


The Words

by royalbluesnowwhite (serafinaspiccolo)



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Trinine take on the regime and fall in love along the way, aka my favourite things, lots of unnecessary description and pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 30,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26680636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serafinaspiccolo/pseuds/royalbluesnowwhite
Summary: In this alternate universe, each resident of Chicago gets a tattoo on their 18th birthday with the first words their soulmate will say to them. Beatrice was excited to finally get hers and have her dreams start to come true, just in time for the Choosing Ceremony. What she wasn't expecting was to see the navy script that now adorns her collarbone, nor was she prepared for who might have put them there.AU and canon divergent, set during events at the start of Divergent. Romance/ drama.Reviews/kudos always appreciated!(This is also published on ff.net under my other pen name SerenasShirtCollection.)
Relationships: Jeanine Matthews/Tris Prior
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	1. The day of The Words

**Beatrice.**

The sun creeping softly through the window was accompanied by a soft breeze that gave Beatrice goosebumps on the back of her neck. She was stood in the kitchen, patiently waiting for her mother to finish doing her hair. Waiting for her chance to see herself in their small family mirror. Abnegation rejected vanity, she understood that, but today it was important that she could see herself. It was not only the day that she would choose her faction, but her birthday. It was bad enough that her birthday fell on the day of the Choosing Ceremony but this year was the year she turned 18. Officially, the most important day of a teenager's life is their Choosing Ceremony. After all, it's the day that they become a proper adult, can ascend the ranks of their faction, and finally, become a valuable member of society. The public, on the whole, disagrees with this official idea and instead have a different special day. The day of The Words.

Every person in the city receives a tattoo on the day of their 18th birthday, it always appears somewhere on the left side of their body, anywhere from their wrist to their ankle. Some were very short, a simple _"hello"_ or _"sorry, we haven't met"_ , others were longer, more complicated, like her mother's that ran from her shoulder blade right down to her hip. They were the words of your soulmate, their first words to be exact. Second only to members of your faction, your soulmate was the most important person in your life. It was very difficult for people with the _"hello"_ variety of tattoo to find their soulmates because, as you can imagine, a lot of people's first words are "hello". That is why Beatrice wanted a good one, like her mother's, something interesting that would begin what she was sure would be an exciting life together.

Her mother turned from her daughter's hair and left the room with a comforting smile, leaving Beatrice alone to search for her Words. No one was allowed to see you Words before you found your match, to prevent manipulation. A shaky breath left her lips as Beatrice pushed back the sliding door hiding the mirror and began to remove her dress. It didn't her long to find it. it was just under her collarbone, on the left side of course. Her breath caught in her throat as she studied the delicate writing. It was smaller than she had expected it to be, taking up no more room than the handle of a wooden spoon. It was also a lot more beautiful than she had thought it would be but she guessed that was partly due to the elaborate blue cursive in which it was written, denoting her soulmate's faction. She could tell right away that it wasn't Abnegation. Their font was very plain like it had been written by a computer and a dull grey colour. This navy script told her at once that her soulmate belonged to Erudite.

Beatrice cursed under her breath. She had been hoping to see the scrawly black hand of Dauntless. She was secretly fascinated by them, their bravery and their recklessness. The way they didn't obey any rules or social norms like the other factions. Until now she had been considering transferring to Dauntless at the Choosing Ceremony. She couldn't do that now, could she? A Dauntless and an Erudite? They'd be the laughing stock of the entire city.

In her annoyance, she'd completely forgotten about what her tattoo actually said. Straining her eyes, she focused all her efforts on the mirror.   
_"and you are?"_

Great. What the hell would she do with that?

**Jeanine.**

Jeanine silently got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom at the other end of her apartment. On her way out she gathered the clothes that were strewn over the floor and piled them neatly at the end of the bed. She was hoping it would give whichever young Erudite she'd dragged home with her last night the hint that she wanted them gone before she got back to the bedroom. Checking the clock on the wall she noted that she was perfectly on time. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as her eyes skimmed away from the timepiece and had to refrain from gasping at how awful she looked. Her usually straight blonde hair was knotted and the was a tuft on the back of her head that wouldn't seem to settle. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and around them was a smudge of black, no doubt from the remnants of last night's makeup. Hoping that a shower would fix her banging headache, she shakily stepped in.

She was in and out in an efficient five minutes and felt altogether more refreshed. Her headache was even beginning to subside. She had taken longer than her usual three minutes as she had decided to shave her legs, today was an important day after all. But she still had plenty of time to dress and fix her hair before she made her way down to the ceremony. Exiting the bathroom to put on the pre-selected outfit that was hanging on a hook by her bedside table, she was pleased to notice that her companion from last night had indeed taken the hint and her penthouse was completely empty. Her towel was swiftly deposited on the floor and Jeanine could finally remove the patch that was itching at her skin. It had to stay on during her shower, she wasn't taking any chances. It was a patch that covered her soulmate tattoo. She was yet to meet the person that would speak the words carefully written on her inner thigh and so she had to hide it any time there was a chance somebody could see it, to prevent manipulation.

Not that she cared. Soulmates weren't for people like her, no, people like her focused on their career, on the greater good of their city, not on some stupid lover. Yet she still sighed as her tattoo was revealed once more. _"It's not supposed to be a choice,"_ It still made her roll her eyes. It was typical of the sector of society that her soulmate belonged to, always going against the rules, never conforming to a faction. The silver script shone in the light as she moved. The silver script of a divergent.


	2. The Choosing Ceremony

**Beatrice**

"Did you find it then?" Caleb inquired as they stood in line to enter the choosing ceremony.  
"Find what?" Beatrice feigned confusion, she didn't want to talk about it.  
"You know, your words" Her brother was 6 months older than her and had been bragging about having his words before her ever since his birthday.  
"It's not that important you know"

Beatrice's mother turned around and shot a look at her daughter. The words were the be-all and end-all in her mother's opinion. It took her until 29 to meet her soulmate, Beatrice's father. She always talked about it as the moment in her life where everything changed "I became a different person" blah blah blah. If she was honest, Beatrice cared more about how cool her tattoo looked than she did about this "special someone." That would all change, apparently, when she met her soulmate. The world is said to stop turning, your heart rate increases and many people report being unable to speak. It all sounded overly-romanticised to her, she could never fall for an Erudite anyway. Still bitter about her soulmate's faction she turned back to her brother.  
"Quit talking about it" she scowled.

They were shushed by guards on the way into the hall so no more could be said about it. Beatrice was glad. She just wanted to sit down and get this thing over with as soon as possible. Not that she knew which faction she would choose, but that didn't matter right now. She was, however, stopped in her plans as her father dragged them over to greet somebody. It was Jeanine Matthews. Head of Erudite and in charge of the choosing ceremony this year. Jeanine was seen by most as a walking computer, she was the person with the highest IQ score in the city and therefore the smartest but she was also cold and ruthless in taking leadership of her faction. Naturally, all of Erudite saw her as the most important faction leader but some people back in Abnegation whispered of her having more influence than even their own leader, Marcus Eaton. It was probably her demeanour, Beatrice reasoned, she was standing holding a tablet, shoulders back and weight shifted slightly onto her toes as if trying to make herself look taller and more imposing than she already did.

She'd zoned out from the conversation and was brought back by words that had become suddenly important to her.  
"and you are?"  
The woman turned to face Beatrice with an inquisitive look on her face. Jeanine's grey eyes simultaneously frightened and enthralled her as she found herself lost in her thoughts. It obviously wasn't her, there were plenty of people who would say that to her in her life and she was sure this was just the first example. And besides that, she was a woman, attractive for her age but still a woman all the same. Beatrice wasn't gay, was she? Sure, she had never had a boyfriend, pre-18 relationships never lasted and she didn't see the point in them. There were a few crushes at school she supposed, the popular kid that everyone fancied, the boy that once helped her pick up all her stuff when her bag strap broke in the corridor. That was attraction, right? He was definitely kind, and her friends all said that he had nice eyes.  
Eyes.  
Beatrice looked up and found herself drawn to those eyes again. Something piercingly green was hidden within the grey, like emeralds shrouded in black mist. She tried to speak but her throat wouldn't let her make a sound. She didn't know how long she'd been staring at this woman, staring at her possible soulmate.  
"No!" she thought out loud. it couldn't be her. Her voice was croaky, barely more than a whisper and she wasn't sure anyone had heard her. Quickly, she tried to cover up her mistake but found her mouth too dry.  
"This is Beatrice" Caleb rescued. He placed an arm on his sister's shoulder and tried to catch her eye. His face was screaming _"what's wrong"_ but she avoided his gaze. Jeanine carried on the conversation, talking about how she hoped that they would make the right decision, how she hoped that they were ready to start their lives as an initiate. The very woman who had robbed her of her chance to choose a faction, she was an Erudite through and through and if she was her soulmate then Beatrice must be an Erudite too. Without thinking she thought out loud again.  
"it's not supposed to be a choice though, is it?"

**Jeanine**

Jeanine stared at the girl in front of her. She was a daughter of Andrew Prior, why did she even still talk to this man? Her eyes were a deep brown and her hair was up in what she assumed was elaborate design for her faction, she was Abnegation after all. The girl continued to be silent, looking at Jeanine intently whilst being seemingly unaware that she had four people staring at her, waiting for her to speak. She was pretty, for an Abnegation child. Quite well kept with a small and agile frame. Jeanine mused on what faction she would choose today, Abnegation was the obvious choice but she sensed intelligence in the girl, maybe her faction would get a new member out of her. The girl made a sound, her voice was hoarse and it was barely audible above the racket of the hall. Jeanine hadn't a clue what it was that she was trying to say and this only added to her confusion, what on earth had made the girl so quiet all of a sudden?  
Her brother, Caleb if she remembered correctly, introduced his sister as Beatrice.  
Beatrice. Interesting name, not suited to her Jeanine thought, far too old of a name for such a young girl. She was what, 18? Tris would be more apt or maybe something completely different, Emma, Abbie maybe. Beatrice it was though and Beatrice it would stay she feared. Her sudden silence could only be taken for timidness, a trait that was best suited to her existing faction.

After a brief period of silence, Jeanine thought best to continue the conversation. Beatrice's eyes never left hers as she talked, the girl seemed to be studying her, and looked as if she was having a fight with herself in her head. Jeanine kept stealing glances in between her fake smiles and the speech that she was spewing out. She felt like she was reading a script, this was her 5th conversation like this today.  
"This is an important day"  
"I know you'll make the right decision" she might as well be a robotic speech machine.

"it's not supposed to be a choice though, is it?"

What?

It was Beatrice, voice still croaky but louder than before. The group turned once again to look at her, shocked that she would dare say such a thing. Everyone else began to make excuses for her and apologise to Jeanine but she wasn't really listening. It couldn't be. Her soulmate could not possibly be Beatrice Prior, a teenager, an Abnegation-born. There was no way it could be her, was there?  
Hoping her curtness could be taken as offence, she cut the conversation short and made her way over to her place on the stage, indicating to the relevant people to start the ceremony as she went.

Jeanine found herself watching the girl, zoning out as she usually did while child after child decided their future. When it came to her brothers turn he chose Abnegation, no one was surprised and Beatrice looked happy for him as she passed him on her way up to the stage. The ceremony leader nodded and Jeanine saw Beatrice pick up the knife, her hands shaking slightly. Jeanine found herself holding her breath. The girl's hand hovered over the Abnegation bowl, a drop of blood slowly forming between her fingers. It stayed there for a few seconds and Jeanine could feel the wave of relief travelling towards her, ready to wash her silly thoughts away. Beatrice was going to stay in Abnegation. She wasn't her soulmate. All of a sudden Beatrice swung her hand around and the blood fell into another bowl. Jeanine strained to see before it was announced.  
Erudite.  
Her eyes widened in horror and she swore she saw the girl look up at her before turning away.  
It couldn't be. An initiate? But why else would Beatrice have chosen Erudite? She was clearly unsuited to it and she had no family there. The cry from her mother could be heard across the hall, it had come as a shock to then as well then.

Jeanine sat through the rest of the ceremony trying to regulate her breathing and stop herself from running out of the hall, running far away from here. She didn't want this. Until now she had been fine without her soulmate, she didn't need them. But now, now the possibility was dangling right in front of her she couldn't help it. She had to know.

She waited until everyone had filed out of the hall and she was left with just her new Erudite initiates. After a brief speech, she let them also leave but made sure she could follow close behind in order to gain the attention of a particular one of them. She saw her right at the end of the line, head down, walking by herself.  
"Beatrice Prior!" she called out.


	3. Just the thought of it

**Beatrice**

"Beatrice Prior!" She froze to the spot. The boy walking just behind bashed into her and angrily shouted something over his shoulder but it was drowned out by the sound of blood rushing through her ears. She could feel a certain pair of watery grey eyes burning into the exposed skin at the nape of her neck as she fixed her own on the lace of her shoe.

The two women stayed in this stalemate for a couple of minutes until all the other Erudite initiates had left the hall, Beatrice getting more worried with every one that passed by. Sweat began to form on her brow as she tried to plan what she would say. Did she play dumb? Pretend that she was just like any other initiate, not one that may end up spending the rest of her life with the woman who had called out to her. Oh God. The rest of her life with Jeanine Matthews? She guessed that's what was supposed to happen with your soulmate. Not that she was sure hers was Jeanine, should she ask her? No! She couldn't do that, what if she'd got it completely wrong? She would only be embarrassed. Jeanine would just laugh at her. There's no way she could ever think of dating someone like Beatrice. A blush formed on her cheeks as she registered the compliment that she had just given her new faction leader. Stop it! She scolded herself for even considering the possibility and went back to debating how to lie about her tattoo to Jeanine.

Lost in her thoughts Beatrice didn't notice the last person leave the room, it took the sharp tap-tap of heels across the floor to break her from her trance.  
"J-Jeanine" she stuttered, forcing a small smile upon her lips. Jeanine raised an eyebrow as she moved to face her. She suddenly realised that she'd just used her first name, that's what her father had always called her but it's not what Beatrice should ever refer to her as, unless? She stopped that train of thought before embarrassed herself again and dragged her focus back to the present moment. They were stood halfway up the steps in the aisle that lead to the exit door. Beatrice gulped and smiled once more.  
"What can I help you with?"  
Jeanine seemed to consider that for a moment. Her eyes scanned the girl in front of her, noting the reddening of her cheeks and the uncomfortable way that she was fidgeting with the material of her dress.  
"What were your test results, Beatrice?" Strange? She hadn't even thought about it, her mind had been consumed with thoughts of her tattoo and her soulmate.  
"A-Abnegation, ma'am." She cringed at the sudden formality, considering apologising before being cut off by Jeanine.  
"Interesting."

Their conversation was cut short by the sudden beeping of Jeanine's pager alerting her to an angry man wondering where she was as she was supposed to be delivering yet another speech. She made up a story that Beatrice had fainted, something to do with the shock and blood loss from the wound on her hand. This, of course, meant that Beatrice had to stay under observation in the medical bay whilst everyone else listened to whatever it was Jeanine had to say. She thought that two hours was far too long for a faint, even if it had been a real one, but apparently Erudite have very strict rules on health and safety. There were three other patients in the bay with her. One was another fainting initiate, though theirs happened earlier, at the ceremony. The other two patients were in their mid-thirties, Beatrice guessed and seemed to have the flu.

  
The minutes went by, the skies outside the window clouded over somewhat as she sat and little drops of rain started to fall into small puddles on the paving stones outside. She watched one particular drop journey it's way down the windowpane as she tried to imagine what life would be like with Jeanine. Images flashed into her mind of the woman out of her work clothes and in a comfier outfit, thick socks pulled right up to her knees in the wintertime to protect her toes from the cold. Of her eyes wild and shimmering at night when they stay up late talking about everything and nothing all at once. The other initiate, Toby was his name, tried to make friendly conversation about what she thought of her new faction, if she was excited to meet her dorm-mates, the usual kind of thing. Beatrice tried her hardest to maintain a conversation but found her mind always drifting. After half an hour of this semi-conversational interaction, they were interrupted by the small cough of a nurse.  
"You're both required to report to Ms Matthews immediately."


	4. Why I chose Erudite

**Jeanine**

"How's your fainting girl doing?" Lexa smiled as she entered the office later that day, handing her boss a cup of decaffeinated coffee.  
"Oh, they both seem better now." She took the drink and tried to stop thinking about Andrew Prior's daughter. There had been another initiate fainter who had to be briefed separately along with Beatrice, a small boy with freckles dotted across his olive skin and dark hair, he was a transfer from Amity. The two seemed to be getting on well despite only having met a few hours ago.

Beatrice avoided meeting her eye for the entire five minutes that she had been in her office for the brief. Maybe it wasn't her? She said her test results showed Abnegation, why would she lie? Unless she did know that she was divergent and was trying to hide it. It would be sensible under normal circumstances, there were people in her faction who wanted all divergents hunted down and killed. They were threatened by them Jeanine presumed. It seemed silly to her but, then again, she was rather biased. They had always had a place in Jeanine's heart, thanks to her tattoo most probably. She would have to be killed herself before any kind of mission against them was authorised in Erudite.

Jeanine had Beatrice placed in a dorm with all the other transfers. She would be able to see her again when she introduced them to training tomorrow.  
As if reading her mind, her assistant placed a hand on her desk and suggested that she retire to her apartment.   
"You've got another big day tomorrow"   
Jeanine was reluctant but concluded that it was for the best, it was almost ten o'clock after all. Jeanine headed up to her penthouse in the Erudite building, making a quick round of the dorms on the way to ensure all her new initiates were asleep, they all had big days ahead of them as well. She didn't linger too long near the transfers.

The crude beeping of her alarm brought Jeanine crashing out of her subconscious the next morning. After thirty seconds of shouting abuse at the machine, she resumed her normal morning routine. 06:10 shower. 06:13 dry hair and apply makeup. 06:23 get dressed. 06:27 have breakfast. 06:40 arrive at the office to be briefed by Lexa on her itinerary for the day, which is to begin at 07:00 precisely. Her first task today is to introduce all new members of her faction to training. All Erudite born teenagers will be split into groups and assigned timetables of classes with various Erudite professors, which they must attend. The transfers, 12 of them, were to work with Jeanine herself on a course with a lower skill level for two months until they are ready to join the others.

Speech done and the plans explained, all students were required to report to their timetabled rooms for their first lesson. Jeanine waited until she knew that her 12 would be in their allocated room before leaving the hall to follow them. When she got there she found Beatrice sat at the back, just by the door. She jumped when she entered and met Jeanine's eyes with her own. The look seemed to last for minutes rather than the few seconds it was before Jeanine turned away and carried on her journey to the front of the room. Beatrice's eyes were gradually joined by others as she walked down the aisle until she was behind the desk at the front with everyone looking at her. Silence spread across the room as she took her papers out of her bag and placed them neatly in a pile.  
"Hello everyone, welcome to your first full day as a member of Erudite" The sound of uncomfortable shuffling was audible as each student was scrutinised by their new tutor. There were 5 girls and 7 boys, a couple from Candor seemed to know each other but everyone else was sat at least one seat apart from anyone else in the room. All of them looked like rabbits caught in the headlights under Jeanine's glare. Just how she liked it. Normally.  
"Firstly I thought we should all get to know each other a little better. We'll go around the room and I want you all to tell us your name, your old faction, and why you chose to transfer to Erudite" her eyes settled on Beatrice as she said the last part.  
"You can start" she decided, indicating to a scrawny boy in the front row.  
"M-My name is Colin, I am-was Candor, and I chose Erudite because I want to be a scientist" The pattern snaked back across the room with people introducing themselves one by one. A girl from Dauntless wanted to expand her mind, a boy and two girls from Amity all said that they didn't fit in back home, the two Candour friends liked the influence that the faction had over society, two boys from Dauntless said how they aspired to become more rounded people. Toby, the other fainter, wanted to prove to his parents that he could make a life for himself, by himself. After him, a boy from Amity who liked the colour blue, a girl from Abnegation who wanted to do something for herself for once. Then was Beatrice.  
"My name is Beatrice and I used to be in Abnegation. I chose Erudite because of my soulmate tattoo."

**Beatrice**

"My name is Beatrice and I used to be in Abnegation. I chose Erudite because of my soulmate tattoo."   
Time seemed to halt for a second, a collective gasp filled the air around Beatrice. Everyone in the room turned to the back to catch a glimpse of the girl who'd dared to give that as her reason for joining. Her eyes, however, were on Jeanine who had seemed to falter at the abruptness of her statement.  
Another moment passed and Beatrice, wide-eyed, scanned the room. She saw everyone's jaws had dropped to the floor and a strange sense of pride ran through her at the sight. That feeling was quickly replaced by dread and utter confusion. What had she been thinking? No one is supposed to admit choosing a faction because of a soulmate anymore. It's quite commonplace but is written very clearly in the code of conduct as a no-no. Something happened about ten years ago, everyone who was 18 by the Choosing Ceremony, which was most people, used the day to join the same faction as and find their "one true love". Within the week over half the possible matches had been made and the faction system almost collapsed because of the number of people who went against their aptitude. Nowadays it was hardly spoken about within a family. It was not something you would say to an established member of a faction, definitely not a faction leader. And most definitely, definitely not Jeanine Matthews.

Jeanine started walking down the aisle towards Beatrice. Oh God. What was she going to do? Her eyes had been fixed on Beatrice since she had asked the question, they were burning into her skin, something that seemed to be happening quite a lot recently.  
"What was that Miss Prior?" All events of the previous day seemed to have been forgotten and Jeanine adopted her very stern, authoritative persona.  
"I-I um-" She couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say, now was definitely not the time to be telling Jeanine that she thought she was her soulmate. Not in front of all these people.  
"Get out!" The words reverberated around the room, causing a sudden increase in Beatrice's heart rate. She stood up and darted out of the room as fast as her slightly jelly-like legs would take her.

Not having been given instructions on what to once she _"got out"_ Beatrice decided to take a tour of the Erudite facilities. She found the classrooms where the Erudite born were taking their classes, they were all sat at computers on some sort of maths software, she thought it was maths but it was far more complex than anything she'd done at school. She caught the eye of the boy sat at the end of the row, he stared at her but carried on typing his calculations. After passing four more classrooms like this she got to the lifts at the end of the corridor. The first lift stopped a woman got out, she had messy black curls and was wearing a royal blue pencil dress similar to those Jeanine wears. She gave Beatrice an odd look but didn't make a comment.

Once in the lift, Beatrice didn't know quite where she wanted to go. It looked like she was on the fourth floor, there were 5 below her, 3, 2, 1, B, and BB. There was a sign next to the bottom two that said "no unauthorised access" it was the same as the one stuck next to the top floor, number 22. Floor 22 was subtitled "The Penthouse". Penthouse? Why was there a penthouse in the Erudite building? Who could live here?

Oh.

Jeanine.

Beatrice hovered her fingers over the numbers some more, thinking what Jeanine's flat might be like. Very modern, all the walls were probably white, or blue she supposed. After all, Jeanine was patriotic enough to live in the faction building, why not top it off by coordinating the decor as well?

The lift beeped again, obviously getting impatient with Beatrice's indecision. She decided to go up in fives until she got to floor 19 and then she'd visit all the rest, aside from 22 of course. Floor nine was advanced technical workshops, according to the sign on the door that she couldn't get past without an electronic key. Fourteen seemed to be offices of some kind, as did 19. Each door had a large window, almost all of which were obscured by dark blue blinds. The ones that she could see into contained desks, multiple hologram screens, and a strange variety of plants. She wondered if that was Jeanine's influence.

Floor 20 looked to be meeting rooms, they all had completely glass walls on two sides and large ovular tables surrounded by at least 20 or 30 chairs. On floor 21 she encountered the woman from the lift again.  
"You!" She shouted after Beatrice as she passed her on the corridor.  
"Yes?" The look in the woman's face didn't look good. She was a mixture of surprised and irritated to see Beatrice so high up in the building.  
"And what may I ask are you doing up here?" Beatrice explained to her that she was just looking around her new faction building, that she wasn't in a lesson at the moment due to "a change in circumstances." She didn't want to tell her that Jeanine had kicked her out.  
"What's your name dear?"  
"Beatrice Prior" The woman seemed to flinch a bit after hearing her name.  
"Lexa Taylor, Jeanine's personal assistant" Oh. That's funny, Beatrice had never imagined that Jeanine would have a personal assistant. It made sense though, she supposed.  
"You're a transfer aren't you?" Beatrice nodded. Lexa glanced at her watch.  
"Why are you not in a lesson?" she considered lying, saying Jeanine had cancelled the lesson early or something. In the end, she figured that would be a bad idea, as Jeanine's P.A. she was bound to know already if that had happened.  
"Sh-She asked me to leave, I told her that I transferred to Erudite because of my soulmate tattoo." Lexa visibly winced.  
"On your first day, as a transfer, you admitted to putting your soulmate before your faction?" It was a question so laced with sarcasm that Beatrice almost melted on the spot.  
"Well to be honest I didn't have a permanent faction at the time" Lexa rolled her eyes but seemed to find that funny. After a moment or so her face softened and she continued.  
"You're lucky that all she did was throw you out, I'm sorry for being harsh on you earlier, by the way, comes with the job I suppose."  
"A word of advice though, soulmate tattoos are a touchy subject with Jeanine, she hasn't had the pleasure of meeting hers yet" Beatrice heard Lexa curse herself under her breath and she filed that under 'things to not tell Jeanine', along with how hot she looked when she was angry and how much Beatrice just wanted to grab her by the waist and shut her up with a kiss. Beatrice blushed at her thoughts, catching Lexa watching her.

There was an awkward silence between them for the next minute or so. Beatrice wondered if she was expected to leave. She turned to make her way back to the lifts but Lexa called out after her.  
"Wait!"  
"Don't-don't tell Jeanine that you saw me up here, or that you were here at all for that matter."  
"I won't tell her anything." Beatrice reassured her.  
"You should talk to her though, clear up the matter of your soulmate tattoo." All Beatrice did was laugh like that was going to happen.  
"Is that funny?" Stern Lexa returned for a second and she moved slightly closer.  
"I-it's just that-"

Beatrice told Lexa everything, about her test results saying how she got told she was Abnegation but chose Erudite. How she thinks her soul mate might be Jeanine. Everything.


	5. First contact

"Get out!" Jeanine quite didn't know what came over her when she approached Beatrice. She became very stern and seemed to forget that the girl was somewhat special to her. The words _"my soul mate tattoo"_ had sent her into a crazed state and she found herself ordering Beatrice out of the room.  
Her sudden sharpness could be attributed, she reasoned, to the general dislike of soulmates being put above faction members. She was still quite young when the incident happened and found it hilarious if she was honest. A scheme put in place by the government threatening the faction system, _her_ faction system. The tattoos you see, they weren't natural. They were imprinted on to your skin as a baby the ink was manufactured to stay invisible for 18 years, after then it would become visible and made everyone think that they just "appeared". Quite the point of it, she didn't know but what she did know was that it made her life altogether more difficult. The difficulty had calmed down recently. After the first few years, one tends to forget about finding a soulmate. However, Little Miss Beatrice Prior had rather set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Beatrice.

She practically leapt out of the room, clearly taken aback by Jeanine's outburst. As were the rest of the class who refused to look her in the eye for the rest of the morning. She tried her best to continue the lesson as if nothing had happened but found herself glancing to the now vacant spot at the back of the class several more times than she was expecting. Guilt had taken over almost instantly. Beatrice was a smart girl, obviously not afraid of speaking her mind, a quality Jeanine usually admired. She wasn't afraid of telling Jeanine her honest opinion, just now and at the Choosing Ceremony. The Choosing Ceremony seemed weeks ago, although it was just a day. Jeanine had been unable to sleep until the early hours of the morning because all she could think about was Mr Prior's daughter. Ever since she watched a timid girl almost choke trying to speak to her at the Choosing Ceremony she had not stopped thinking about her. Timid wasn't the best word to describe her, Jeanine considered. Reserved, full of intelligent opinion but not jumping at every opportunity to share it, only when asked. It was a trait uncommon in a faction with egos bigger than scientific research facilities. The more she thought about it the more she realised that Beatrice didn't fit in here at all. She was quiet and obedient, but fiery too. If what she had said about choosing Erudite purely because of her soulmate was true then maybe she was wrong to put her heart so far above her head. There was something about her though that made Jeanine uneasy, she didn't seem to fit into Abnegation either, despite saying that was what her test gave. Jeanine knew what this meant.  
Her tattoo, it was in cursive, less grand and formal than the Erudite font, more energetic than the Candor one. It had very small letters Os and every starting letter was capitalised. The S was her particular favourite because it was written from the bottom up as she did hers. This cursive, messy and energetic, the font that ruled over her life, was written in silver. A colour that meant only one thing, her soulmate was divergent. And so was Beatrice, Jeanine feared.

She sent the class on their lunch, telling them to return promptly in half an hour and dashed out in search of Beatrice. After checking the dorms she went to check the canteen, no luck. Then she did what she always did in a crisis situation. She phoned Lexa.  
"Can you track down Beatrice Prior for me please?"  
"I could've done if you'd have asked me earlier" After an inquisitive noise from Jeanine, she continued.  
"I saw her getting into a lift about half an hour into your first lesson." Jeanine heard her stammer several times in that sentence and sensed that there was more to that story but she didn't have the patience to ask.  
"Well that's no use, I need to know where she went and where she is now"  
"Jeanine, its lunchtime, check the canteen"  
"She's not there"  
A sigh. "How do you know?"  
"Because I'd be able to see her" Jeanine was leant against the railing of a balcony that looked right across the rows of tables where members of her faction were having their lunch. It was a double-height space and from this spot, Jeanine would definitely be able to see Beatrice if she was one of them. But she wasn't.  
"I'll check the door logs" All initiates had been given a first-grade door pass, letting them into classrooms, dorms, and the canteen. First was obviously the lowest grade of clearance so it greatly narrowed down the possibilities of her whereabouts.  
"Thank you."

Jeanine made her way back up to the office to continue the search. She didn't know why she wanted to see her exactly, to apologise for this morning she presumed. Or to get to the bottom of this soulmate business? Beatrice's soulmate was Erudite. Jeanine now knew that much, what if it was her? Can it be? She's far too young, isn't she? Her head was spinning with so many questions she hardly heard Lexa address her as she entered the room.  
"Jeanine?"

"Hmmm?" Feeling slightly dizzy, Jeanine rested her hand on the desk to support herself.  
  
"She was last logged leaving your classroom this morning but CCTV caught her in that lift I mentioned. She was in there quite a lot, must have been taking a tour." The last remark was accompanied with a small eyebrow raise.  
  
"How far up did she go?"  
  
"21"   
  
Jeanine's eyes widened in horror. So Beatrice was not only roaming the corridors but she was roaming in the top levels of the building. She knew they should put security in the lifts. Health and safety said that it was too dangerous. It wasn't as if there was anything secret on the higher levels that was accessible with Beatrice's pass but the higher up the building she went, the more questions would be raised about her being there. The last thing Jeanine wanted was for people to be questioning why she had allowed an initiate out of a lesson and into the senior office and meeting room corridors on her first day of training. Especially if they then found out that she was giving her somewhat preferential treatment because of this soulmate business. She'd be overthrown.  
"And she hasn't entered her dorm or the canteen since, when was that?"  
  
"10:15" Just as Lexa glanced away from the screen again there was a beep.  
"She's moved" Beatrice had just entered the canteen. With a little nervous laughter, Jeanine left the office without having even sat down.

An unexpected sense of excitement came over her and she struggled to remain authoritative as she stood in the lift. She was alone until it stopped on floor 14 and two technicians got in. They exchanged curt nods before descending into an uncomfortable silence and Jeanine had to try and stop her thoughts from wandering too far in case they saw her blushes. Thankfully, they got out a floor before her otherwise she may have knocked them over as she sprinted out of the lift and into the canteen.  
It didn't take long to find Beatrice. She was sat at the end of the table of transfers, occasionally engaging in the conversation but mostly focusing on her food. Jeanine watched her for a minute as she calmed her nerves. Her eyes kept flitting between her plate and the other initiates, they were more hazel than Jeanine remembered, with remarkably small pupils. Her perfectly thick eyebrows framed them on the top whilst faintly defined cheekbones sat underneath. Beatrice took another bite of her bread and Jeanine decided that now was the time to approach. It was now or never. Her head-of-the-faction facade was well-rehearsed so it wasn't difficult to impose as she passed the lines of tables to get to Beatrice.  
"Miss Prior, a word please"

Beatrice had seen Jeanine come in. She couldn't help but glance over as soon as she heard a pair of heels enter the room. She had also seen her watch her for a few seconds before approaching. The inexplicable pressure of eyes tracking hers made her chest suddenly very tight. To distract herself she glanced over to the other initiates a few times with hopes of escaping into their conversation but she could never concentrate on what they were saying. She could only concentrate on the way Jeanine stands, with all of her weight on one leg so that her left hip of jutted out. The way that, even out of the corner of her eye, Beatrice could see her perfectly manicured nails tapping on her arms that were crossed over her chest.

The green-grey of her eyes was quickly becoming one of Beatrice's favourite colours. Which wasn't surprising considering that she saw it every time she blinked, and every time she looked up at the woman who was still watching her with quiet contemplation. Beatrice noticed Jeanine notice her watching and braced herself for the conversation she was undoubtedly about to have. It wasn't much of a surprise when the click-clack of heels traced down the row of tables beside her. Neither was it a surprise when Jeanine stopped by her and ask her to follow her out of the canteen. Without a word she got up and let Jeanine lead her to what looked like an overflow meeting room. Only when the door was closed did their eyes finally meet.

"Beatrice-" She started, but the words caught in her throat.

"Jeanine, I should tell you something" Beatrice spoke with more certainty than Jeanine had and it only made it harder for Jeanine to focus.

"My soulmate, I said they were why I joined Erudite." Jeanine could manage only a little nod in response.  
"I- I think it's you" Beatrice's cheeks blushed a shade of crimson not dissimilar to the cranberries she had been supposed to have after lunch. She had been almost certain her soulmate was Jeanine ever since her conversation with that woman earlier. The words _"Jeanine hasn't found her soulmate"_ had been swimming around in her head all morning. With her tattoo, it wasn't impossible that this thing with Jeanine was just a coincidence. But the response that her words had got told her otherwise.

"Oh Beatrice-" Jeanine's legs buckled slightly and Beatrice ghosted a hand over her waist to steady her. The touch only lasted a few seconds but it was enough to send tingles up both their spines.

"How did you know?" Jeanine laughed, a slightly perplexed look flitting into her eyes.

"I mean how did you know to ask me to talk to you? That I thought you were my soul mate?" Beatrice probed.

"The same way you knew I guess, my tattoo... and... I may have got tipped off about a little conversation earlier." After Jeanine had left the office, she had got a phone call from Lexa, saying she had left before she had a chance to tell her something, that she needed to know before she approached Beatrice. It was quite funny how oblivious Beatrice though Jeanine was but having the knowledge that her feelings weren't completely unrequited did give her a bit more confidence. Beatrice blushed again but soon started laughing.

"I can't believe she told you!"

"Me neither!" In their hysterics, they had ended up rather close to each other. Jeanine had one leg pressed up against Beatrice's waist and her hands were precariously close to the girl's hips. There was a moment of silence. A breath was passed from Jeanine's lungs to Beatrice's as they stared at the different colours of each other's eyes.

Jeanine jumped away, opening up the gap between them again.

"No, we can't!" There was something she needed to tell her.

After a few moments, she asked Beatrice to sit down and perched next to her, offering an outstretched hand in her direction.

"Beatrice, my tattoo-" She didn't know how to explain this. The full extent of the splinter movement was unknown to even her, but she did know that it existed. And Beatrice had a right to know that she might be in danger.  
"I-it's written in silver"

"Silver?" Beatrice seemed to process the statement for her second before her eyes widened in shock.

"There's a movement in Erudite, one made of people that don't approve of divergents"

"But you do?"

"Well of course I play along, but do you really think I'd want to persecute my soulmate's people? To hurt you?"

Beatrice explained to her how she swore she didn't know, Jeanine assured her that she believed what she said. After a few minutes of hushed conversation, Beatrice knew everything Jeanine knew about the splinter movement, which admittedly wasn't a lot. She let Beatrice process the information for a while.  
"What-what shall we do?"

"We'll fight them together"


	6. Jeanine's tattoo

Divergent? Tris's head was spinning as she processed what this meant. She tried to focus on Jeanine sat in front of her, on the feeling of her hand gently stroking her knee, but she couldn't seem to stop her mind from wandering. She was divergent. Beatrice Prior, daughter of an important government figure and soulmate of the Erudite leader, was divergent. Why had her test results shown Abnegation? What if they didn't? But why would they lie to her, surely they would have taken her somewhere? Would they really have let her get away with it? By the sounds of the situation at Erudite, she doubted it. But was she really dangerous? She didn't feel dangerous. She just felt scared.  
"What-what shall we do?"

"We'll fight them together."

Jeanine was so convincing Beatrice almost believed that she was prepared for this. As if reading her mind, Jeanine spoke again.

"I don't know how we'll do it, but I promise you- Beatrice I promise you- that I will not let them hurt you. Do you trust me?"

 _Did_ she trust her? What other choice did she have?

"I do"

Jeanine sighed in relief but found she couldn't reply. Could she really help Beatrice? Was she willing to risk her entire career for this girl she'd met only yesterday? She'd never expected to fall so hard and fast for her soulmate but seeing her there, looking back at her with what was probably all the resolve she could muster, Jeanine very easily answered her own questions.  
"Okay" she managed to utter.  
She couldn't back out now.

Later that day, Jeanine invited Beatrice to her office. They had needed to get back to class after lunch and hadn't had a chance to say any more about, well, anything really. There was so much to discuss, it was difficult for Beatrice to process it all.

The wait had been hell. She was allowed back to the afternoon session after her abrupt dismissal earlier but by then the other initiates had got to know each other better and she was left alone.

They had also been introduced to the details of their programme, most importantly the transfer fast-track system. Since they'd missed out on the preliminary education all Erudite borns get as children, the transfers had to learn faster. This was known as the fast-track system. They would sit weekly exams on the content and if they performed poorly, they would receive extra tutoring. Jeanine put special emphasis on this last point as she filled Beatrice in on what she'd missed and Beatrice registered that maybe she ought to do badly on purpose as an excuse to see Jeanine. Not that she thought she had much hope of scoring highly anyway, she was slowly realising that it was a mistake to choose Erudite. Most of the other initiates seemed to pick up the afternoon's content with ease whilst she scrambled to keep up with them. They all seemed to be naturally intelligent and well-suited to their new faction. Beatrice felt like an outsider. Add the relentless tension between herself and her newly discovered soulmate, and the result was a painful three-hour wait until class was dismissed and she was promptly summoned to Jeanine's office.

Lexa was dismissed for the day and Jeanine offered Beatrice a seat opposite her desk. Her office was similar to the rooms Beatrice had seen earlier, with glazed walls on most sides. She pressed a button that drew closed the blinds but made sure that Beatrice noticed her glance at the security camera in the corner of the room. She'd taken the decision to keep her soulmate's identity a secret for now. It wasn't necessary but, considering Beatrice's divergence and the fact that she was faction leader and her soulmate was an initiate-in-training, she decided it was for the best. She sat across from Beatrice and ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly very anxious in an environment where she usually had control.  
"Forgive me. I'm not very used to these kinds of situations"

Beatrice laughed nervously "Neither am I." The two fell into a semi-uncomfortable silence before speaking again.

"Beatrice-"  
"Jeanine-"  
They both started at once and then immediately gestured for the other to go first.  
"Beatrice, I'm sorry I sprung that on you earlier. I felt you had a right to know"

"It's okay. I was going to ask, can I see it?"

"See it?"

"Your tattoo." Oh. Jeanine smirked and looked back up at the security camera. This wasn't a conversation they could have in her office after all.

"We'll have to go to my apartment. It's in this building."

"I know" Beatrice cut in without thinking."I figured you were the only person who would occupy the penthouse here-" She explained and continued further when Jeanine still looked confused "-in the lift earlier, I saw the button..."

"Oh of course! Would you like to come up?" She knew this was probably an unusual situation for Beatrice, to be invited to somebody's place so soon after meeting them, but she wasn't about to uncover her tattoo in here.

And what was usual in a soulmate relationship like theirs anyway?

She told Beatrice about the broken camera on the tenth floor and how she would need to take the lift there and then use the emergency stairs to avoid being seen on her way up. She wasn't taking any chances of them being caught and forced apart before they could even get to know each other.

By the time Beatrice reached the 22nd floor, she was severely out of breath and had to stop outside the door for a few moments to straighten her uniform. Jeanine was waiting on the other side and watched as the girl fiddled with the hem of her jacket, the rise and fall of her chest slowing as she caught her breath. She opened the door after a while and handed her a glass of water. It was ice cold and cooled Beatrice down nicely plus the freezing sensation of the glass between her hands distracted her from any nerves she might have been feeling. Her breath recollected, she took in the sight of the penthouse in front of her. It wasn't quite what she was expecting, far more cluttered. But she was right about the blue and white colour scheme and, by the looks of this landing, she was right about the plants too.

She skirted carefully around a small tree by the entrance and stepped into what seemed to be a living room. There was a single small sofa overlooking the Erudite campus and the city beyond. The coffee table was covered in notepads full of scribbles and various diagrams. Notepads? Nobody had written anything by hand for decades. She doubted Jeanine would ever have had to use one in her life so why did she have so many? Beatrice thought it very odd but didn't like to ask. Beyond the living room was an open plan kitchen diner and further beyond that was a rather grand looking door.  
"What's through there?"

"My bedroom. We'd better do this away from these windows," She gestured and then added, "I might have to change." Jeanine was wearing a tight pencil dress and she wouldn't be able to hitch the skirt high enough to reveal her tattoo, but she wasn't sure Beatrice would be comfortable if she stripped completely. She headed to the bedroom to find something more practical.

Not sure what to do, Beatrice followed her.

Jeanine's bedroom was a stark contrast to the rest of the penthouse. A bed, wardrobe and armchair were the only items of furniture and the walls were all painted an impossibly dark navy blue.  
"Would you like me to look away?" Beatrice asked Jeanine who was stood absent-mindedly smoothing an oversized t-shirt over one arm.

"Would you like to?" came the titillating reply. This caught Beatrice off guard. She supposed that, as her soulmate, she would see Jeanine undressed regularly but they'd not known each other for very long and she wasn't sure she was ready.  
Maybe it was a bad idea to ask to see the tattoo but she wanted to see it to confirm something. It wasn't that she didn't believe Jeanine but she had to see it for herself to make it clearer in her head that she really _was_ divergent. She tried her best to decide how to explain all this to Jeanine but in the end, just turned around and hope that that sufficed as an answer.

"Tris" Jeanine's voice was surprisingly soft and Beatrice was slightly taken aback by the sudden use of a nickname.  
She turned around to see Jeanine barefoot and stood not far behind her wearing only the t-shirt from before. How different she looked from the moment they first met, much more relaxed out of her usual clothes and her normally pristine hair was slightly tousled from having to change. The lighting in the bedroom was several times dimmer than the rest of the Erudite building and, in this low light, Jeanine looked much gentler.  
The tension was back between them again, it felt like wading through water as Jeanine took her by the hand and led her to stand in front of the chair.  
"It's in a bit of a difficult to reach place. Excuse me for the delay" she explained in delicate tones and leant back against the arm of the chair. Words failed both of them so they just communicated using facial expressions. Jeanine cocked an eyebrow as if to ask Beatrice if she was ready and she nodded timidly.

Beatrice gasped as she watched Jeanine lift the fabric that was over her lap and suddenly understood why this had felt so tense, the tattoo was right at the top of Jeanine's inner left thigh.  
"Sorry, I should've warned you." Jeanine panicked. Her immediate reaction was to stand up and run from the room but she calmed down as she saw that Beatrice wasn't looking back at her with disgust and instead with curiosity.  
"No no, it's okay. Can I come closer?"

"Of course."  
Beatrice took a seat on the floor to get a closer look at the writing. _"it's not supposed to be a choice"_ It was less fancy than her tattoo but it was bursting with energy. And the ink- oh the silver and how it had every colour of the rainbow inside of it but how it was also pure and whole- was the most stunning thing she'd ever seen.  
Jeanine's breath hitched in her throat momentarily and the movement caused her to tense the muscles in her leg. As she did, the skin stretched and the tattoo caught the light from the lamp behind them. The ink shone, just like real silver, and it tempted an involuntary squeal from Beatrice's throat. Mentally cursing herself, she stayed sat, embarrassed and not quite wanting to leave this moment just yet.


	7. Getting to know you

Jeanine reflected on how odd it was. How odd it was to have somebody see her like this when it wasn't just about the sex. Romance was a bit of an alien concept to her. It's quite difficult to get close to someone when they're searching for their soulmate and you're not them. No matter how committed two people were to making their non-soulmate relationship work, there would always be doubt that drove them apart in the end. She'd seen it happen time and time again. Although, she'd always been secretly thankful that the tattoos gave her an excuse to never get beyond the 'casual' phase of a relationship. Therefore she could focus all of her efforts on her career and climbing the Erudite ladder and then she got there and, well, she had to focus on staying. It didn't matter to her that she was alone. That was until she met Beatrice.

It was convenient being the leader of a faction. It meant that she had a certain air of authority, a certain persuasive ability. She was used to easily picking up her faction members at parties, after class or a meeting, under the ruse of discussing a promotion so the others wouldn't know. They would go up to her penthouse, she would cover her tattoo and bring out a bottle of wine. She had reserves from the old world, but she would never let on so they were all told it was new. Nobody believed her but nobody cared, the wine wasn't what they were there for.

They all wanted it, of course. Jeanine wasn't a monster. But she was always left with the lingering feeling that they did it partly out of loyalty. And it was that same loyalty that kept them quiet afterwards and so, to the majority of her faction, she appeared as a cold and heartless creature with little need for human connection.

She wondered if that was what Beatrice thought of her. It was a thought that had been niggling at her since this afternoon. Beatrice could undoubtedly do much better than her in a match. Someone her own age would be a start, and someone more charming than the jaded and cold Jeanine Matthews. She glanced down at her soulmate again and her breath caught in her throat, she really was getting more beautiful each time she looked at her.

After a few more minutes had passed, she coughed to hopefully encourage Tris to say something, not quite ready to ask her question yet but aware that they had been silent for a long while.  
"Jeanine it is stunning" That hung in the air between them for some time before she responded.

"Thank you" and then "Beatrice, can I ask you something?" Jeanine struggled with herself but managed to maintain her composure. It wasn't like her to let people keep secrets. She had to know what Beatrice was thinking.

"What is it?"

"Do you wish your soulmate was somebody different?"

"Jeanine..." she trailed off.

"It's okay. You can tell me" There was nothing that could be done about it but it would be good to know, she mused. Maybe they could have an exclusively platonic relationship? She could mentor her, keep her out of harm from people who want to hurt her, train her to fit in at Erudite and disguise her divergence. Sure, it wasn't ideal, but would Beatrice ever be able to love her?

"Truthfully? I don't know" So it wasn't quite a yes, that was some comfort at least.

"I just don't think I know you well enough yet"  
Obviously, Beatrice had been aware of Jeanine Matthews for most of her life. Nobody grows up not knowing about someone like Jeanine. But she'd only ever seen her from a distance, overseeing a crowd, giving speeches, always poised, always well-presented, with an undeniably captivating presence. If she was honest, Beatrice realised that she'd never really seen Jeanine as human.

"That can be fixed" The least Jeanine could do was answer the girl's questions. At Beatrice's request, she told her all about her life growing up and how she came to be head of Erudite. She told her that one of her childhood friends was the son of an Amity transfer, that where she got her gardening knowledge and love of plants from. She told her that she was top of her class every year at school and that she once went a whole week with no sleep during her campaign to be elected as leader. They discussed Jeanine's favourite books, her favourite places to walk and how she liked her coffee.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"What?"

"You heard me"Jeanine stifled a scoff. She couldn't be serious? She looked over Beatrice's shoulder to the navy wall behind her, to the ultramarine pillows on her bed and then down to the t-shirt she was wearing. It may have been an unusual style for Jeanine but it was -very predictably- "blue, and yours?"

"Green" Beatrice blushed as she realised why she was so quick to answer. It was Jeanine's eyes and the way they could go from blue-grey to inexplicably sparkling emerald in just a second. It was her eyes, the ones she had hardly felt leave her since the Choosing Ceremony. She felt them continue to watch her as she stood and moved to the other side of Jeanine's bed. Smoothing a hand over the covers, she sat down and faced away as she thought about what she'd heard.

"I've not got much to tell" There wasn't much about her life that was different from any Abnegation child and then, there wasn't much interesting about an Abnegation life. Who was she now? An Erudite? Not really. But she wasn't Abnegation anymore either. She wasn't sure who she was. As if understanding, Jeanine didn't probe her and instead she asked if there was anything else Beatrice would like to ask.

"There is one thing"

She was completely out of her depth. What was she doing in the apartment of a woman who was still practically a stranger thinking she had the confidence when she'd never done this with anyone before? Maybe this was a glimmer of the Dauntless in her. It was better to think of it as bravery, rather than recklessness. Jeanine hummed in response and it was now or never. She tried to turn to face her but couldn't manage to. Not so Dauntless after all then.

"Can I kiss you?"

There was a pause.

Beatrice felt like she wanted to be swallowed up by the mattress beneath her but then Jeanine was there, delicately placing her hand on her chin to direct her gaze into her eyes and nodding a response yes. Then she leant in and all of a sudden Jeanine's lips grazed hers. It was gentle and tentative but it was still enough to ignite something within Beatrice and she pushed back into the kiss, placing a hand over Jeanine's tattoo to steady herself.

And then as quickly as it had started, it stopped. She pulled away, dazed and overwhelmed.  
"I-I'm sorry. I think I'd like to take things slow" she whispered, withdrawing from the bed and moving to stand by the door.

"I understand. You can set the pace" Jeanine replied in equally hushed tones.

"Thank you. I ought to be going" The sky outside was getting darker so she reasoned it must be getting close to dinner time. Jeanine told her to go back the way she'd come and that she would see her at class in the morning.

"Oh, and by the way, let's keep this to ourselves for now okay?"

"Okay"


	8. Strictly no talking

It was a few more days until Beatrice was alone with Jeanine again. After her troublesome first day, the other initiates had been avoiding her, not wanting to be associated with the 'lovesick stiff' that got kicked out on her first day. To them, she was Ms Matthew's no.1 enemy and they didn't want to be taken down with her. It was quite unpleasant enough to hear their whispers and sniggers when she was forced to by the class schedule, never mind every other hour of the day too. So, Beatrice had taken to spending her spare time in the study hall with just her and her books, and the 'strictly no talking' signs.

It was there that she was when she saw Jeanine. She was walking past with a group of Erudite leadership. Her hair was up in a complicated looking twisted design and she was wearing that blue pencil dress again. The clip clap of her heels was what she heard first, then the hushed discussion about some area of research or other and then-  
"Beatrice Prior!" The group sheepishly halted their discussions whilst Jeanine turned to face her.  
"Brushing up on-" She paused, coming closer to lift the cover of the book laid out on the desk "- _'The principles of simulation technologies'_ I see?" Jeanine discreetly squeezed Beatrice's hand as she set the book back down. Her eyes were searching Beatrice's face intently as if she was concerned.  
  
"Y-Yes ma'am. I'm trying to accelerate my progress here at Erudite" Beatrice beamed in the direction of the faction officials, sensing that Jeanine wasn't really interested. She could smell perfume between them. Rosewood? Yes. And honeysuckle maybe? No, it was definitely jasmine, how classic. Their eyes met again for just a second before Jeanine forced a fake air of nonchalance and sauntered back over to the group.  
"Well, don't let me distract you from your studies. We wouldn't want you failing tomorrow's exam, _would we_?" and they were gone, but not before she shot a knowing look back at Beatrice over her shoulder.

Strange? That was the second time she'd seemed to hint that Beatrice shouldn't aim to pass tomorrow's exam. But was that really what she wanted? If only they could talk freely again and Beatrice wouldn't have to try to decipher her clues. Even as her soulmate it seemed unlikely that Jeanine, the poster girl of Erudite herself, was encouraging her to be lax with her studies, or to cheat her way to extra tuition by purposely filling the wrong answers. Did she want to see her that badly? The idea that she did gave Beatrice an unexpected fuzzy glow inside.

She took dinner back to her room that night under the pretence of extra study. She really just needed to be alone. So much had changed in the past week. She'd left her family and her home in Abnegation and she'd found her soulmate. Most troubling of all, she'd discovered she was divergent and was perceived as a threat to the way of life she'd grown into. But she had Jeanine on her side and that meant that she was safe, for now. Or that's what she was trying to convince herself to believe.

There was a mirror in the dorm room and she'd been practising looking into it when no-one was around. She would stand and study herself, her slight build and her mousey hair, her brown eyes, trying to build a better picture of herself in her head. Trying to understand her identity.

Tonight, she took off her overshirt and admired her tattoo. It was still a shock to see it there even though the image of it appeared every time she blinked. She delicately traced the writing with her finger and closed her eyes. She imagined it was Jeanine, she heard her voice in her ear, _"and you are?_ ". It was different than at the Choosing Ceremony, much softer like before when they had talked, when they had-  
"Stiff! What the hell?"  
Beatrice jumped.

"Stop! My tattoo!"  
She scrambled to cover herself, heart beating so fast in her chest she could hear the blood rushing through her temples.  
"You can't burst in like that! No-one is allowed to see it!"

Her dorm mates chuckled mockingly, striding towards the still flustered Beatrice.  
"Ahh yes, your soulmate. Still not found them then?"

"Uh- no"

"But they're the only reason you're here, right? Why are you being so reclusive when you should be out looking for them?"

"Yeah you've not said anything in class and you're suddenly such a swot"  
Her Dauntless-born dorm mate gestured to the books piled on her bed and her barely touched dinner.  
"Your lecture from Jeanine on Monday give you a shock did it?"

"I- don't want to rush. And I need to make sure I pass these exams to stay in Erudite don't I?"

"Who cares? We just get extra tutoring, no biggie" It was the Candor transfer, Christina was her name, that wouldn't stop with the questions. Why could she not just drop it?

"She'll probably fail you on purpose anyway stiff"  
Her mouth was suddenly dry. Surely she didn't know? But why-  
"Because she hates you so much I mean"  
Beatrice tried to disguise her relief and laugh it off but now she was even more nervous for the morning than before.


	9. The most logical solution

The initiates all got to class early the next morning so they were there when Jeanine arrived at 9 o'clock. Beatrice was sat alone at the back and was the first to notice her come in. Before she even heard her, she felt her presence. She had her hair twisted up again, the nape of her neck exposed to Beatrice's gaze as she made her way down the aisle between the desks. Did Jeanine feel the same sensation as she did when she was watching her? The class quietened when Jeanine reached the front of the room and turned to face them, a stern look on her face.

In her usual crisp voice, she explained to them how the exam was going to work. They were to do it in the morning session, then take an extended lunch break and come back for the results at 3.  
"It's really nothing to worry about. If you pass, you may progress as normal and if you fail, you will receive extra tutoring over the weekend to bring you up to speed" There was an explosion of nervousness at that.

"Tuition at the weekend? Is she kidding?" Beatrice heard somebody whisper.

"Quiet, please. This is normal procedure and you will need to get used to it if you want to stay here in Erudite." The exam was a combination of a paper and a sim, to test they could apply their knowledge to real-life situations.

"You will take it in turns to complete the sim. The faster you complete it, the higher your grade will be. Whilst you're not in the sim, answer the questions on the tablet in front of you, in silence please" She paused to let them absorb the information and then continued.  
"First in will be Miss Prior. The rest of you may begin the paper"

She stood on shaky legs and followed Jeanine into a side room where there was a chair and some equipment that looked like the machine from her test. No sooner was the door closed behind them and Jeanine was placing a hand on each of Beatrice's shoulders.

"Are you ready?"

"I think so" She laid down on the chair and motioned to her that it was okay to attach the wires. Jeanine seemed distracted and had the same concerned look on her face as yesterday in the study hall. With some difficulty keeping her hands steady, she hooked Beatrice up to the sim and set up the programme.

"Just remember to do what an Erudite would; work towards the most logical solution" was the last thing she heard before she fell into the sim.

She was trapped in a room with a door and only one light. It was positioned right over it, leaving the rest of the room in shadow. The door was locked of course. Her instinct was to try to force it open but that didn't seem, what had Jeanine said? Logical. So, she walked into the darkness and after a while, she reached the opposite wall. Puzzled, she walked back towards the centre of the room in case she missed something before giving up and coming back to the wall. Still unable to see, she used her hands to walk herself along its length, eventually finding another door. This one wouldn't open either, she soon became frustrated and started trying using all of her weight to force the door open. It took her a while to realise that she'd only been trying to open it outwards. "The most logical solution", she repeated to herself out loud. With a deep breath, she pulled the door in and it opened with ease. She stepped through and found herself back in the room with Jeanine.

"You took your time" the soft touch of her hands unhooking her from the machine was in stark contrast to the cutting comment that had just left her lips. She tried to open her mouth to argue but Jeanine just told her that now wasn't the time and took her back into the classroom where she announced that they were now behind schedule due to Beatrice's inaptitude. Her cheeks blushed a deep red as she made her way back to her desk to begin the rest of the exam.

Later at lunch, it was all anybody could talk about.

"So, Miss Matthews really has it in for you, huh?"

"I guess? It's just because of the soulmate faction business though, I don't think it's too serious" She was trying hard to focus on her food and not on the nerves that were making her fork shake in her hand.

"She turfed you out on the first day, lectured you at lunch and then picked on you in class today and you're saying that's not serious? She doesn't let go of grudges easily you know" They were sat next to some of the Erudite-born initiates and apparently word had spread pretty quickly about this morning.

"Yeah, there's really not much to it honestly." Beatrice didn't want to draw attention to the situation in case she got any more uncomfortable questions.

"Okaayy"

"You know" a different Erudite-born exclaimed with a mouthful of lasagne "I heard Jeanine's just really sensitive about all this soulmate stuff because hers rejected her. Can you believe it?"

"Rejected her? Nah she'd reject them the heartless witch!" Christina chimed in. "The future belongs to those who know where they belong."

How dare she.

She imitated one of Jeanine's many speeches from the first day, throwing her hands up dramatically and lowering her voice one too many octaves.  
"Her voice isn't that deep- just leave her alone" Nobody heard Beatrice as they carried on laughing and joking, taking it in turns to do their best impression of Jeanine.

"I bet she doesn't even have a tattoo. She probably scrubbed it away with her bare hands!"

"Stop it! Just stop it!"

Beatrice lost it.

Her fork clattered to the ground as she threw it out of her hand and leapt up. Everyone around simply watched in amazement whilst she bolted from the canteen.

Once again, she found herself not sure where to go. It was still half an hour until the end of their extended lunch and there was no way she was going to face the canteen again. What was she thinking? More importantly, what were _they_ thinking? Has she just given them away? Would Jeanine even mind? She was being so cold to her today. Her mind was busy being at war with itself so it was her legs the carried her back up to wait outside the classroom. Unexpectedly, Jeanine was inside. She was flicking through sheets on the screen at the front of the room facing away from Beatrice who was peeking through a gap in the blinds. Her attention seemed to be divided between the sheets and some graphs displayed on a tablet in front of her. Watching her work was no less than incredible. The tablet resting in one elbow, she had a coffee in her other hand and was using her free pinky finger to scroll and zoom through the information. She was grading their exams probably, Beatrice wondered how she had done.

It wasn't long until others started to join her outside the classroom. First, ones who hadn't witnessed her outburst at lunch and then a few that had. They all looked at her with such perplexed expressions that she assumed they hadn't guessed what was going on between her and Jeanine. What _was_ going on between them? She was feeling increasingly worried about her soulmate's attitude recently and waiting in the hall and knowing Jeanine was only meters away was making her breathless. She stopped trying to hide her it from her classmates when she realized that it could be interpreted as stress about the exam results. Being stressed would justify her overreaction at lunch, right?

After another few minutes, Jeanine opened the blinds and invited them in. Three had failed, a Dauntless-born boy, an Amity-born girl and Beatrice.

"Miss Prior showed a particular need for improvement so she will have her extra tuition with me. You two-" She turned towards the others, avoiding eye contact with Beatrice. "will be assigned to our other teachers" They exchanged a secret grin.

"Your assigned rooms and times will be on your timetable in the next hour. You are all dismissed"  
She turned with a flourish and started to tidy her things. Beatrice hung back in case Jeanine wanted to speak to her but she didn't turn back around so she took that to mean that she too was dismissed. She was barely out the door when her personal tablet pinged. 9 am in the study hall 10. 'Be prompt' read the attached note.


	10. Extra tuition

'Be prompt' said her tablet so prompt she was. It was 8:55 when she arrived at study hall 10 and 8:56 when the little voice in her head asked why they couldn't just skip tuition today.

She had hardly slept a wink the previous night. She was plagued by visions of Jeanine concerned and jittery doing her sim, of her snarling as she made an example of her in front of everyone. Then, dreams that she was being led on. Of Jeanine laughing at her. _"How could I ever love you? How could I ever love a divergent?"_ There were some dreams, nightmares she supposed, where Jeanine began to be scared of her. Those were the worst. Was that why she was acting so worried around her all of a sudden? Did she believe she was dangerous?

In the end, she'd given up trying to sleep and perched on the window sill watching the lights flicker in the distance and letting the freezing draft keep her awake. She was hardly in the right frame of mind for the day ahead. Still, exhausted and anxious about what the session would hold, she stayed.

Ever the model of punctuality, Jeanine arrived just as Beatrice watched the clock turn to 9:00. She was wearing a pantsuit for a change from her usual dresses. The hems of the trouser legs grazed her ankles just above the brightest royal blue pair of kitten heels Beatrice had ever seen. Mesmerized, she watched them get closer to her, eventually dragging her gaze up to Jeanine's face as she spoke.  
"Welcome to extra tuition" She smiled but didn't meet her eyes. In fact, she barely looked at her the whole morning. They were covering the basics of data science. Apparently, data is a big thing at Erudite and something she might work with "if you ever pass the exams" Jeanine explained to her, lips pursed and eyes focused on something in the distance.

There were other people in the study hall with them. It was a fairly large room with twenty or so desks, all facing the glass curtain wall on the far side. They were at one end of the row and their closest neighbour was a senior-looking man in a smart navy suit who kept giving Beatrice funny looks when she said that she didn't understand things. Outside she could see a few of the other transfers chatting and laying on the grass and she wondered if they knew all this stuff.

Jeanine would often strut off behind the ceiling-high rows of bookshelves and come back with textbooks for Beatrice to study. They would talk about the subject, Jeanine would test her with questions and they would act as if they were perfect strangers.

Lunchtime came around and everyone began to filter out to the canteen. Jeanine declared their session over and headed once more into the sparkling white rows of shelves without so much as a goodbye. Beatrice sighed and stared for a while at the spot where she had disappeared from view. Eventually, she gathered her pile of books and started to make her way to the door but about halfway there she felt a hand grab her wrist and she was yanked against a bookshelf. It was Jeanine. Finger to her lips, she slowly released her grip. They both stayed silent until the last pair of shoes squeaked their way out of the hall and the door shut.  
"Jean-" She started.

"Not now" Jeanine interrupted immediately before dragging her out of the hall and to the stairs and then all the way up to 22. They were inside her apartment door and sat on the sofa before she let go of the elbow she'd been gripping onto. She was panting heavily as she said  
"If you hadn't guessed Beatrice, I would like a word after class" It was an attempt at lightening the mood but neither woman laughed.  
"I wasn't sure you'd want to" Beatrice was very confused about what had just happened and her right arm was in a considerable amount of pain. For some reason, Jeanine seemed surprised that this wasn't her idea of a good date so she elaborated.  
"Well, you've been really distant and then yesterday you were outright mean!"

"That's unfair!"

"To me it was!"

Jeanine inhaled sharply and then shook her head and began to explain. There had been developments in the anti-divergent movement within Erudite.  
"It seems with our new intake of initiates, they have renewed determination to root out the divergents and I didn't want to draw any abnormal attention to you"  
It wasn't the whole truth. Jeanine was far more worried about proceedings than she was letting on. In the last two days, she's received two separate funding requests for suspiciously intrusive testing equipment and furthermore, the potential screening of Erudite members for divergents was brought up again at Friday morning's board meeting. Worryingly, she was now in the minority fighting against the plans.  
"I was worried they'd got to you already. That's why I came to find you on Thursday."

Beatrice took a moment to process the information, cooling off a bit as she did.  
"But you took over my tutoring today, surely it would've been a better idea to hand me to someone else?"

"I had to see you!" Jeanine winced at how whiny she sounded.  
"To tell you that we need to be more vigilant in case they find out about you, I mean"

"Are you sure that's it?" Beatrice retorted with a cheeky grin but Jeanine didn't bite, remaining stony-faced as she threw off her shoes and ran a hand through her hair dramatically.

" _Have_ you been being vigilant?" She asked and Beatrice knew she couldn't lie to her. So, she told her about the incident in the canteen the day before. She could feel Jeanine's body getting tense beside her but when she spoke it was with her usual control.  
"Do you think anyone suspects?"

"No, or they've not said anything in front of me if they do"

"Honestly I'm disappointed, an Erudite should be able to work these things out from the clues you've so readily given them."  
Of course, what do you lose when you gain too much intelligence? Empathy. Jeanine didn't know that she was being totally and unreasonably harsh. Beatrice rolled her eyes for what must have been the 100th time that day but persevered with trying to get through to her.  
"They all think you hate me still because of the first day."

"Well, they couldn't be more wrong," Jeanine softened to face her for a few seconds before withdrawing back to look out of the window.  
"but maybe it could work to our advantage, I could keep singling you out in class then if anyone is suspicious they'll assume I'm just being hard on you"

Beatrice let out an exasperated sigh, she could see her point but it had been getting rather lonely.  
"I would like them to be my friends Jeanine" She tried to meet her eyes but they were focused on something outside.  
"Why does it need to be a secret anyway? There's nothing wrong with it, everyone has a soulmate!"

"Tris-" Jeanine got up and smoothed down her hair as she paced the length of the living room, feeling her composure slip further away with every stomp.  
"What would we do if we went public? Everyone would talk! I can't be seen to be biased towards any of my faction members, even my soulmate! And that's without even mentioning my tattoo!" She tried to control herself but found she was on the verge of shouting.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's silver Beatrice. I can't just go on hiding it or people will get suspicious. They'll want to see it!"

"You'd show it to people?" Sure, Beatrice might be prepared to undo her top button to show hers off sometimes but would Jeanine go as far as to expose hers?

"You're right, I have a pretty good excuse but it's still a risk. And then there's Lexa, or did you forget that she knows?"  
Come to think of it, Beatrice had.  
"She's already been pestering me but if we go public, I'd have no excuse not to show her."  
She was still ferociously pacing up and down the room, her bare feet making almost no impact on the carpeted floor. In any other circumstance, it might have been cute.

"Lexa? Why not just tell her where it is? She'll understand that you'd be uncomfortable."  
Jeanine stopped and turned to face her for a moment, tongue clicking in the back of her mouth, and then looked away with a grimace. That was a secret she was hoping would stay that way.


	11. Think like an Erudite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Your humble narrator here! Just a note to say this is where the story starts to run parallel to canon and gets a bit more plot-oriented. Still plenty of wholesome trinine to come though! I'm posting this all at once so I've no idea if anyone is reading but hope you're enjoying it so far! x

Slowly, the penny dropped and finally, she seemed to have made her point. Beatrice's voice became more resigned as she asked  
"So we live in the shadows forever?"

"No. But whilst we still belong to this faction and you're still in danger then I won't let you jeopardise your safety-" _not for me_ she added in her head but was cut off by a sudden outburst.

"Jeanine, these last few days have been horrible for me! I thought you hated me! I didn't know why you were acting so strange!"  
Beatrice was sat with her left foot on the floor and her right leg, that had been casually crossed over the left, squeezed into her chest. She was digging her fingernails into her knee in an attempt to stop herself from crying.  
"Just talk to me! Don't shut me out like that!"

"I'm sorry" Jeanine came back over to sit on the sofa and awkwardly pulled her into a hug.  
"I promise I'll try" She couldn't promise it wouldn't be difficult after all these years alone but she could promise that at least. Beatrice nodded and removed her leg from between them so she could move closer into the embrace. Jeanine whispered more apologies, stroking Tris' hair and leaving the occasional kiss on her forehead and decided to work on being better at this relationship business.

She did what came most naturally, thought her way around the problem. She spent the next few days devising ways they could meet more frequently. Things like moving Beatrice's sim to the end of the group so they could run over into lunch and drawing up an extra tuition rota, conveniently making sure she was always assigned to Beatrice. She even made up excuses to get Lexa to clear her timetable for campus tours, to check up on her faction members of course. A whole hour of each day that she could sneak away and spend with her soulmate.

They were still fighting occasionally but Jeanine was slowly learning how to share her life with someone and Beatrice seemed to be settling into her new faction well. She'd see her from time to time in the study halls after class cocooned by giant piles of books, her long hair haphazardly thrown into a ponytail, ferociously taking notes about something or other. Occasionally, they'd catch each other's eyes and she would smile as if she'd just discovered the most important information she'd ever know. It was paying off too, she was climbing the initiate ranks and had been passing her most recent papers with flying colours. They would speak every day at lunch and Jeanine would tell her about the growing unrest amongst the faction leadership. About how she was trying to gather clues to understand their movements and about all the worst-case scenarios she'd been brainstorming.

She was smart, really smart. Not like an Erudite but much more practical, understanding, fair, brave. For every problem Jeanine dropped on her, she could see a way out. And not only out but through. She was continually amazed by how her brain worked and found herself feeling very fortunate to know that she had the rest of her life to spend with her.

One particular afternoon, they were in her apartment again after Saturday tuition. Beatrice failed her sim as she usually did but unusually this week it brought her exam grade down far enough that she'd actually legitimately had to see her for extra classes.  
"It seems like a waste of time to keep tutoring you on the theory when you're doing perfectly well with that yourself." She thought out loud. They were stood in her kitchen looking across her balcony at the Chicago skyline.

"But I failed, didn't I?"

"You failed your sim Beatrice, not your test paper. It's your mind, you're just not _Erudite_ enough"

"Then teach me" Beatrice put down the glass she'd been drinking from and at looked her decidedly. She was serious.

"I-it's not that easy. We know how to act like an Erudite purely because we're wired to think that way, it's not something we learn"

"Then tell me what you would do if you were in the sim?"

"That would only help you in those specific situations. Your sims are randomly generated, it's the thought processes you need not the thoughts themselves" Jeanine was pretty sure that she was right but Beatrice didn't relent her stare and she was forced to give in.  
"Maybe I could give you some general guidelines. Tell you how you ought to approach each problem and then you can practice applying it to other scenarios ahead of next week's test and it might- _it might_ \- help you to be better prepared"

"Perfect, let's start on Monday?"  
Jeanine nodded reluctantly.

"Right now," Beatrice downed the rest of her drink and slammed the glass down on the counter before adding "I want to get a better look at this view." she gestured to the balcony and after some pleading looks, Jeanine agreed.

The wind was strong up this high and it was cold. Beatrice shivered in the short-sleeved blouse she was wearing.  
"You're cold. We should go back in"

"No, I like it here"  
Beatrice walked over to the glass balustrade and lent out over the edge. She could see some scientists in lab coats running across the square, obviously in a hurry to get somewhere and she couldn't help but laugh at how funny they looked.  
"Jeanine?" She didn't look at her and instead turned around to face away from her, resting her elbows on the rail behind.

"Yes?"

"If this is the penthouse floor then what's up there?"  
A slimmer section of the tower rose above the balcony stretching 30 maybe 40 floors higher. She hadn't realised at first but it had just occurred to her that all the lifts she'd been in only went as far as the penthouse.  
It's not like those floors are secret, they're visible from most of Chicago.

"Some more advanced laboratories, research facilities... Why?"

"But how do you get there? The lifts only go this far?"

Jeanine exhaled and rolled her eyes, there's still so much she's not taken time to tell her. Spinning around to face the same way as Beatrice, she explained.  
"It's restricted access. It's where we develop our newest technology so only our most senior scientific members are allowed"

"So there are different lifts?"

"Yes. It's really not that much of a big deal. I just live here because the top floors are always crawling with surveillance personnel and I'd never get any privacy" The wild look that flashed into her eyes was swiftly replaced with panic. She could've sworn she saw someone watching them from above. How was she going to explain this if they asked? From that distance could they tell it was Beatrice? Will they come for her?

Beatrice noticed her frozen in place staring at the windows higher up the tower and clocked what must have happened. Thinking quickly, she took a book from her bag that she'd been planning to take back to her dorm and handed it to Jeanine.  
"Take it. They might still be watching us and maybe they'll believe I'm just here to return this. You should go up, let them know you're not still with me"

Jeanine took the book and tried to act curt with Tris as she spoke.  
"Thank you. I'm not even sure they saw us but it's best to be safe"  
She dramatically and impatiently gestured for Beatrice to leave, putting on a show for their possible audience, but her face was full of apology.  
"I'll see you on Monday"  
She felt foolish. How could they have been so careless? How has she failed to properly assess the risks and put Beatrice in danger like that? Nevermind, she could evaluate the situation later. There wasn't time now. Taking Beatrice's advice, she headed right away to lab 551 where she'd seen the figure at the window.

It wasn't unusual for her to drop in unannounced like this so she felt the engineers overreacted a bit when they all stopped dead upon her entrance. The most junior member of staff even fled the room when he saw Jeanine, a further tell-tale sign that something was up. Rather fortuitously, she mused, this all suggested that 551 was one of the renegade labs that had been drafted by her adversaries to work on their secret new tech. She'd been noticing some fall behind on their usual output and suspected something was going on. Now she was in with a real chance of understanding what they were doing. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let Beatrice onto the balcony after all.

"What are we working on up here?" She approached the only one in the lab not wearing engineer uniform who she vaguely recognised as James, a recently promoted assistant director.

"Just some new testing equipment, ma'am." He sounded calm enough but Jeanine noticed him gather up some files from his desk and rush to lock them away in a filing cabinet as he answered.

"Testing equipment?" She probed. Usually, she personally authorised any new developments as big as a new range of equipment and she didn't remember them starting on next year's range already.

"For next year's aptitude tests. They offer greater clarity, and much faster too..." He was trying to dazzle her with their supposed benefits but Jeanine didn't fall for it.  
Plus, she was too distracted by the work laid out on the tables to pay attention. The prototypes were obviously still unfinished but she could make out that they were handheld devices, as opposed to their usual static machines. There was one prototype, which appeared to be the most recent, that had a screen and a scanner and seemed like a pretty standard piece of Erudite kit. However, the other one was mostly made up of mechanical parts. That was unusual. At the top of the handle was a wheel. The wheel had six segments each shaped into different symbols, a tree, a flame, one hand holding another, justice scales, an eye and a dagger. A dagger?  
"James, why does this have six options? Is it not for aptitude tests?"

"W-we've moved beyond that, it's an old idea, not important" He was rambling, blue eyes wide and hands fumbling with his jacket sleeves.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Jeanine-" He sighed. She cocked an eyebrow.  
"Sorry m-ma'am, we'll be sure to write up a report of our activities and progress in due course and that should explain any detail you need to know. I really do need to get on"

"Yes, you're obviously running behind if you're having to work at the weekend. I'll leave you alone" She decided she'd got all the information out of him that she would. Smiling sourly, she turned to leave but decided to take one last look around. 551 wasn't particularly big so she could see everyone and everything without moving very far, including a map that briefly flashed on an engineer's laptop as he searched through his open tabs. It was there so briefly that most people wouldn't have had time to recognise it. But she wasn't most people. She simply used a process of elimination and an analysis of its key features to determine the source.

It was a map of Abnegation.

Not quite sure yet what she'd uncovered, she didn't let on that she'd noticed and addressed the whole lab when she reached the door.  
"Thank you all for your time. You are all a credit to your faction, working hard like you are" She caught the eye of James once more before leaving, making sure he noticed her narrow her eyes in the direction of that wheeled prototype.


	12. The beginnings of a plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small filler to set up for the next chapter (which has some actual relationship-y interaction, shock! Horror!)

Beatrice did her usual lap of the canteen before heading back up to the classroom where she found Jeanine drumming her fingernails on her desk. She had to cough to be heard over the sharp monotone.

"Sit down sit down" came the eager response.

She took a seat by the entrance to the sim room and brought out the two apples she'd snuck into her pockets. Throwing one playfully to Jeanine, she asked if there was any news.

"There's plenty" Jeanine replied in a serious tone and considered taking a bite but, deciding she couldn't afford to waste any more time, she elaborated;  
"I know what they're planning"

Beatrice almost choked on her apple.  
"You do?"

Jeanine told her what she'd managed to piece together from her lab visit on Saturday and the other clues she'd been collecting.  
"I've been doing some research into divergents since the first day we met. We've got archives here at Erudite that go back right to our founders and I found some documents, just notes really, and I'm not sure but I think your divergence is something to do with your genetic makeup. You have less aptitude for specific factions but that somehow makes you suitable to exist without them" She paused, reflecting on quite what that meant for Beatrice and her plans to stay in Erudite.

"Anyway, that's probably how these scanners work. They go further than just looking at your neurological processes like our aptitude tests do and actually examine your DNA"

"You can read our DNA? With a scanner?"

Jeanine nodded. It wasn't particularly groundbreaking from a scientific point of view.  
"We've been able to for a while"  
She'd been organising trials of similar tech for years but they'd never thought about applying it on a large scale before because, even at Erudite, they do have ethical standards.

Beatrice wasn't looking at her. Instead, she was sat very still looking at something on the opposite wall. Her hands were wrapped tightly around each other and Jeanine could see her knuckles turning white. It was quite a lot to take in, the idea that all it would take to bring your world crashing down around you is one person, a handheld piece of machinery and approximately 6.5 seconds.

"Tris, I'd like to say you need not worry so much but-" She took a deep breath.  
"I fear the scanners are not nearly the extent of it"

"What is the extent of it?"

Suddenly, Jeanine was transported back to the Choosing Ceremony. Beatrice's voice was just as hoarse as when they first spoke and it was barely audible over the sound of her heart in her head. All she wanted to do was shut her out, protect her from the knowledge, but she'd promised to tell her everything and so she must.  
"I think they're plotting to attack Abnegation and take over the government by force"

"They're _WHAT_?

"Beatrice-"

"My parents Jeanine! My brother! We can't let them do this! My family are there!"  
She was out of her seat, hands violently flailing around as she shouted.

"BEATRICE!"  
Jeanine screamed to get her to stop just for long enough that she could grab her wrists and pull her in to meet her eyes.  
"Calm down! I can stop them. It's okay, I can stop them"

"Will you send them to jail? Surely this is treason?"  
There was still a fire burning behind those brown eyes but Jeanine could also see the cogs turning as Beatrice began to calmly think her way through the problem. She released her from her grip and motioned for them both to sit back down.

"Jail? No. I'll just make sure they're all stripped of the authority they'd need to carry out something like this and even denounced from the faction if I need to"  
It seemed like the safest option, halt the plans now and then they eliminate the risk of anyone getting hurt whilst they spend time preparing a bigger response.

"They need to be brought to justice, Jeanine"

"I-I don't have evidence, I can't-"

"Then we'll get some!"

"I can't go snooping and risk them finding out. My authority is already hanging by a thread here Tris, they have the numbers to overthrow me too. There's no other way"

"There is."

"What could I possibly do?"

"Join them."


	13. Under the cover of darkness

Jeanine took a few days to think over Beatrice's proposition. It was a risky move, getting involved with the scheme meant incriminating herself too. It was smart though, naturally. All of Beatrice's ideas were clever.

It was Thursday before she brought it up again. They'd been so absorbed training Beatrice to pass her sims with fake scenarios and pretend problems that they'd been distracted from the most important, and crucially only real-life, one.

Beatrice was just finishing explaining how she would escape capture by using the cover of darkness to disguise her identity when Jeanine came to a decision.  
"At the board meeting tomorrow I'm going to bring up the government plans. I know that more than half are already in support so I'll be safe to endorse them."

"You're sure?"

"I have to be."

Lunch drew to a close and Beatrice, still dazed from Jeanine's decision, struggled her way through the afternoon session. Everything was going to be different once Jeanine legitimised people's feelings about Erudite's suitability for government. Undoubtedly, she'd be even more of a target for bullying once word got out because of her background, but it was really the danger that Jeanine wouldn't be able to stop the spread of gossip that was knawing at her. Even if she shut down the plans before they got too far, would everyone in her faction have turned against her already?

Usually, she would leave class and head straight to the study hall for dinner but today she decided to eat in the canteen. Her mind was already frazzled enough from the week they'd had and extra study would only make it worse. On her way there from dropping off some books in her dorm, she saw Christina and some other Candor transfers lingering in a corridor. She tried to pass by undisturbed but was foiled when one of them called out to her.

She stopped about two meters away from the group who were blocking her passage.  
"You're going to drown in all those books soon. There _is_ more to Erudite than reading, Bea" Stated Christina, taking a few steps towards her with her hands on her hips.  
 _Bea._ Who was Christina to call her by a nickname? And such a bad nickname at that. She much preferred Tris, especially when Jeanine called her that. In fact, she liked it so much that she had been thinking of changing her name but there was something special about the way her soulmate had so casually transitioned to calling her Tris that she didn't want to damage its sacredness.

"But you already know that, don't you?" Christina sneered and glanced down at Beatrice's collarbone. Her and her friends laughed as if this was a bit of fun. They seemed to get along since they were all from the same faction and were much nicer to each other than they were to Beatrice, well, as nice as Candors can be anyway. She'd managed to make herself their enemy though she hadn't intended to. It was because of her tattoo.

They had all guessed where it was that day they walked in on her and had been teasing her in the dorm every morning since about her outfit choices. _"Are you sure that neckline will cover your words, Beatrice?" "Wouldn't want it accidentally slipping down would we Beatrice?"  
_ It was stupid really, Christina's was obviously on her forearm because she always had a sleeve covering it but no-one made a big deal about that.

Speaking of Christina, she was still looking at her. She'd moved her venomous gaze from the tattoo and was evaluating her face with her eyes, awaiting a response.

She didn't engage.

"I need to go." Was all she said before turning back in the direction she'd come. She'd spent enough time sneaking around with Jeanine by now to know all the possible routes to the canteen inside out. After a left down the Erudite-born dorm corridor, she deftly snuck into a maintenance area. The door was unlocked so she could always plead ignorance if she was caught. It was only a couple of minutes through here and she'd be able to cut past Christina and the rest.

Almost at her exit, she heard footsteps and dived behind a steel column for cover. She held her breath whilst the motion-triggered light above her clicked off and then peeked around to get a better look. It was two people, they were deep in discussion but she couldn't hear what they were saying. They stopped their journey towards her in the next bay over and she realised that she couldn't move without them seeing the light come back on. Drat. Time to play the waiting game.

The one facing her was a man with light brown hair, blue eyes and a sharp beard. He was wearing a typical royal blue Erudite suit which eliminated the possibility of him being a specialist of some kind but there were no other clues as to who he could be. His companion was a woman. Beatrice couldn't make out anything about her at all until she turned to show the man something on her tablet and faced her side on. It was Lexa.

Lexa?

Unsure what to do, Beatrice hid back behind the column until they began walking again and turned off down another corridor. Click, click, click went the lights after them but still Beatrice waited. After another minute of darkness passed, she decided to make a break for it and jogged all the way to the door to get out of there.

By the time she arrived at the canteen, everyone had already sat down and she took the only available seat next to Toby. He was friendly enough and tried to make small talk as they ate but, once again Beatrice was too distracted thinking about Jeanine to properly reciprocate his kindness.

What she'd seen in the maintenance corridor had been bugging her the whole evening and continued to as they headed back to the dorms. They'd all decided to stay late and take a break ahead of tomorrow morning's exam so it was nine before they left the canteen to go to bed. Expecting that she wouldn't be able to sleep with Lexa plaguing her thoughts, Beatrice let the crowd go ahead and went towards the lift. Not fully processing the decision she was making, she felt as automatic as some of the machinery around here, she took it up to ten and then embarked on her journey up the stairs to 22.

On 14 she paused for a breather and almost turned back. She spent at least a three minutes dancing on the shiny vinyl floor of the landing before she stopped, shook her head, sighed and carried on up.

On 19 she stopped again but she was almost there now, she may as well go the whole way. Maybe it wasn't significant but there was something shifty about the way Lexa and that man had been talking and she felt Jeanine ought to know before her announcement tomorrow.

It must have been about half-past nine when Beatrice arrived at Jeanine's apartment. She took a couple of deep breaths and adjusted her hair in the door's reflective surface before knocking.

A few seconds later, Jeanine opened it. She had removed her makeup and was wearing a navy blue silk robe on top of a matching nightgown. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun but some strands had come loose and dusted her collar bones, which were very pronounced under her thin layers of clothing. She looked surprised, almost dropping the mug of coffee she was clutching in her left hand and the files hugged under her right elbow.

"Beatrice?"

"I-"  
She didn't know how do go about explaining why she'd come unannounced like this when Jeanine was clearly working and not dressed for visitors. So she just stood there, chin on the floor like a fish.

"Do you want to come in?"

Dragging herself together, she nodded and was led inside. She'd never been here at night before, the way the city lights flooded into the living room was really quite magical. In the relative darkness of the penthouse, the fluorescent white windows of the Erudite campus stood out like how she imagined Chicago would against its desolate surroundings if someone were to see it from space. Jeanine walked to the kitchen and offered her a drink but she declined, staying stock still in the entrance. They both stopped then. Both waiting patiently for Beatrice to gather her thoughts and speak.

"I just needed to tell you something I saw. I think it's important that you know before tomorrow"

Jeanine let her coffee go cold on the countertop as Beatrice explained what she thought she'd seen.  
"This man, what did he look like?"

"Umm he had blue eyes and he was wearing a suit. His hair was brown, I think"

"Did he have a rather impressive beard?"

"Yes- how did you-?"

"James"  
Jeanine nodded, obviously understanding something that Beatrice wasn't.  
"And you're sure it was Lexa?"

"Yes"

"Thank you. It's good to know who I can and can't trust."  
Lexa was on their side too? After all this time? She'd been her personal assistant since her second year as faction leader; of all her colleagues Jeanine had expected her to be the most loyal. Lexa had always been there for her. Now what did she have? A traitor for a personal assistant and a faction getting far too big for its royal blue boots.

Beatrice was stood awkwardly swaying from one side to the other, watching Jeanine watch her hesitate by the door.  
"Do you mind if I stay for a bit?"

"Of course not. Are you okay?"

"It's just- just that my dorm isn't a great place to be at the moment."  
She hadn't told Jeanine about the teasing and didn't plan to but still, it would be useful if she could stay until she knew they'd be asleep. Their judging would be hard to deal with in her current worried state.

As always, Jeanine read her emotions like a book.  
"Beatrice- would it be best if you stayed the night?"

It would but- "Are you sure?"

"I am. Make yourself comfortable."  
Jeanine smiled and watched as Beatrice took off her shoes and then her jacket, absentmindedly revealing her tattoo, and her breath caught in her throat. It was the first time she'd seen it.

"Oh" exhaled Beatrice, understanding. She slid the strap of her camisole down her arm so Jeanine could get a better look.

"It's exquisite, isn't it?" In the dusk, it was hard to read the navy script but she knew what it said, obviously. There wasn't a day that went by where she didn't replay that conversation in her head.

"I prefer yours"

Jeanine laughed.  
"We'd better head to sleep soon. It's a big day tomorrow."

After some argument, they'd decided to share the bed. Jeanine's sofa was too small for either of them to lie comfortably and they both deserved a good night's rest.

A good night's rest didn't seem to be on the cards however as they were both still awake an hour later.

Beatrice whispered Jeanine's name into the darkness. She could just about see her outline underneath the duvet but couldn't make out her face as she replied.  
"Yes?"

"What are we going to do when this is all over?" Her whisper was shaky as it left her mouth.

Jeanine rolled over to face Beatrice, moving close enough that she could just about see her eyes.  
"We will be safe enough to go public with our relationship. We could, if you wanted to?"

"I think I would. It still doesn't feel real, that we're soulmates I mean."

"I know."  
The distraction of everything going on hadn't given them much opportunity to adjust to the idea.

They stayed silent for a few moments before Jeanine spoke again.  
"Is there anything I can do to make it feel more real in the meantime?"  
She heard Beatrice gasp and imagined she'd be able to see her blush if it wasn't for the pitch blackness. Still, she didn't apologise and instead left the ball firmly in Beatrice's court. It remained there for what seemed to be minutes before it was flung back in her direction along with Beatrice herself who was suddenly millimetres away from her, her free arm resting on Jeanine's shoulder. There was a slight smell of chocolate on her breath, from her dinner she supposed.

Acting on instinct, Jeanine closed the tiny gap remaining between them and ghosted her lips over Beatrice's. Maybe it was the darkness or the late hour that was making the atmosphere so heady but the few seconds before Beatrice responded were pure torture. She'd released her other arm from under her and it joined the first on Jeanine's shoulders, fingers gently tracing patterns on her exposed skin as she pressed their lips together. Jeanine smiled into the kiss and they had to break whilst she collected herself.

She laughed at how absurd it was. This girl gave her butterflies like the first time she'd been kissed. She was back in her childhood home, seventeen and a bag of nerves learning about the birds and the bees with her best friend from school.

Only she wasn't. She was with Beatrice. Beatrice who was resting her forehead against hers. Who had slid a hand down to wrap around her waist and pulled her into a hug. Beatrice who nudged their noses together then kissed her cheek and then briefly her lips.

"We'll be okay."  
Jeanine whispered, not fully confident who she was trying to reassure.


	14. Flirting with the enemy

Jeanine awoke the next morning to an empty bed and five messages from Lexa. Trying not to notice the empty feeling in her chest at the sight of no-one under her covers, she checked her phone. She was late for their pre-meeting meeting.

After getting dressed faster than the speed of light itself, she scrambled to the lift. Though she knew it was physically impossible that she was moving over three thousand meters per second, the nauseous feeling in her stomach did feel like it could be comparable to that which she'd be experiencing if she were. Her insides were all jumping over themselves and forcing the air from her lungs almost before she'd had the chance to breathe it in. Though she tried, she couldn't calm her body because her mind was racing. Today was important and she'd already made one mistake. Jeanine was never late, always punctual, always calm, always... perfect. Never putting lipstick on in a lift whilst holding down the door close button with her hip to avoid being caught. So what if her alarm malfunctioned but why had she not woke when Beatrice left? When _did_ Beatrice leave?

"Oversleep did we?"  
Lexa sauntered over, a cup of coffee in both hands, as she arrived at the meeting room. Handing one to Jeanine, she took a long slow sip of her own and narrowed her eyes at her boss who hadn't said a word.  
"I'll take your silence as confirmation," Jeanine opened her mouth to suggest they move onto the matter at hand but didn't get the chance.  
"Confirmation that your soulmate has finally made her way into your bed, that is"  
She almost got the smirk slapped off her face right there but she was saved by logic and reason, even on this unusual day they still prevailed in Jeanine's mind. Lexa was the only one who could expose them and she wasn't going to be granted her chance simply by being crude.

"Is somebody jealous?" She glanced at where she knew Lexa's still-secret tattoo was, returning her smirk and playful eye contact in equal measure. Handling this situation was going to be a delicate operation but wearing a facade was somewhat of a speciality of Jeanine's.

The clock on the wall beeped the turn of the hour, reminding them both that they were already running behind and they broke their stalemate and got to work.

At first, it seemed to be just like any other Friday morning. They ran through the agenda for the meeting ahead, she was informed of an initiate taking ill overnight but told that he was fine and would simply be taking his exam later than the others, they discussed progress on her upcoming speeches and the goings-on in all her projects. The routine was soothing and the monotony calmed the nervous feeling in Jeanine's stomach. Calming her mind would have to wait.

They were almost out of time when she mentioned sanctioning the takeover of the government in order to further the divergent hunt. Lexa tried to hide her shock but failed, negating any remaining doubt Jeanine had that she was already involved. She never was a good liar.

Soon, they were joined by the twelve other attendees of the meeting and they began working through the agenda. The building tension around a particular item was surely felt by more than just Jeanine.

In the end, it wasn't her that brought up the plans, but James wanting to cover himself after the visit to his lab the previous weekend. She observed cooly as he rambled on, trying to justify their secrecy and their plans which teetered perilously close to genocide. Genocide. That was a scary thought. There was no way she could save the people of Abnegation or Tris and her fellow divergents if she accidentally let the scheme go too far but it was a risk she was willing to take.

"I agree that this is the best course of action for Erudite. It is time that we use our inherent skills to their full potential; in the leadership of Chicago in the war against divergents."

Maybe in the past she'd have meant it. But Jeanine isn't the same woman she was two months ago, not at all. Beatrice Prior is in her life now. Now, Jeanine needs to, _wants_ to, safeguard her soulmate and her family at all costs, even if it means hurting herself along the way. In the past, she'd never have considered such extreme measures but that was Tris' influence too, wasn't it? That's what you get for having a divergent for a soulmate, she reminded herself.

"We can rely on your full support?" One of the group, who had been silent up to now, spoke up. He was obviously hoping that she would take the fall is anything were to go wrong. Jeanine was the head of the faction so the responsibility did end with her, it's how these things work.

"Of course" She smiled sweetly, the sickeningly fake tone in her voice almost making her gag. Tris is right, she can't just shut this down. She needs to bring these people to justice.

On her way out of the meeting, Lexa placed a hand on Jeanine's shoulder and leant down to whisper in her ear, "You did well out there Jean. Welcome to the fold."  
She shivered in her seat and took a round of deep breaths before leaving the room herself.

On the dot of nine, she arrived at a classroom full of unbearably loud initiates.

"What's so urgent to discuss that it needs to be heard three doors down the corridor?" she inquired from her place at the back of the classroom. Immediately, they all quietened down. They may have been having daily classes with Jeanine for weeks now but they were still afraid of their faction leader. And so they should be, she thought and smirked to herself as she stalked down the aisle between the desks. They were still silent when she reached her usual spot at the front.

"Anybody?"

"We're just worried about the exam, that's all." Colin, the Candor transfer, offered innocently. Jeanine wasn't the only person in the room that struggled to hide their amazement that someone had actually responded. She composed herself quickly though, she had a surprise of her own.

"Rightly so, because this will be your last" She paused for a cacophony of gasps.  
"We're accelerating your programme. Next week you will begin phase two."

Abruptly closing the discussion, or rather eliminating the possibility of there being one, she flicked the switch for the blinds with a loud clunk. The atmosphere in the classroom was unbearably tense as they slowly rolled to the floor. It was almost funny how she had taken everyone so aback. Almost, but not quite.  
This wasn't Jeanine's decision.

Nobody dared ask about it through their simulations. One after the other, they responded to their name being called, completed their simulation and took their seat without a word.

At half-past ten, she informed the group that, in the absence of their unfortunately unwell classmate, there would be a break in the simulation rota and she did what she had been longing to do all morning and looked to Beatrice.

Everything in their classroom was stark. The walls, desks and computers were all a gleaming white, made worse by the fluorescent lights that had a tendency to make the surfaces glare. It was a sight that felt cold. But not Beatrice. Beatrice radiated warmth from her wide brown eyes and hazel coloured hair. From her slender hands which so gently tapped on the screen in front of her. Jeanine was utterly awestruck. Her mind threatened to wander to the previous night but she forced it to stay in the present moment.

Beatrice had twisted her hair into a bun but there was a strand that took it upon itself to come loose. Jeanine noticed first but there was nothing she could do except watch it make it's slow descent down to tickle at Beatrice's nose. She tucked it behind her ear once, twice, and a third time before frustratedly pulling the rest out so she could redo her style. That's when they made eye contact, Tris frozen in place with her hands stuck in her hair and Jeanine completely unaware of the time. She nodded, not wanting to smile and draw attention from the other initiates but couldn't help herself as she took in the amusing freeze-frame front of her and gave in to the blush slowly creeping its way onto her cheeks. They fell out of the trance and Beatrice got back to fixing her ill-behaved hair, leaving Jeanine to unwillingly, and slightly belatedly, resume the run of simulations.

The next passed just the same as the first. Annalisa, an Amity transfer, was the penultimate. She jumped from her seat as soon as her sim ended and bolted for the door but Jeanine stopped her.  
"Could you send Beatrice in please?"

She nodded sheepishly and not long after, the last simulation participant arrived.


	15. A little dream

Beatrice slowly fluttered her eyes open to see Jeanine smiling at her from the top of the doctor's chair. Her smile didn't spark the same warm feeling in her heart as when they had locked eyes barely an hour before, then she'd had to break the contact to stop herself giggling. This smile just left her uneasy. And she knew why. There was something ice-cold holding the corners of Jeanine's mouth in their unnatural position as she addressed her.  
"Well done Tris. Only four and a half minutes, that's your fastest time yet."

Beatrice felt the presence of Jeanine's gaze on her face as she rose to stand opposite.  
"Th-thank you"  
Why were the palms of her hands suddenly clammy? She'd finally impressed her. For the first time, she should be happy to wake from a sim. So why did she feel like she'd still done something wrong?

A couple of awkward moments passed and Beatrice could barely breathe under the weight of the tension. She went to speak again but stopped herself when she noticed Jeanine touch a hand to the side of her head and whisper something into an earpiece. Before she could ask about it, two Erudite guards broke through the door, sweeping Beatrice off her feet and slamming her against the serum cabinets. The glass bottles shook from the impact.  
"Jeanine!" She screamed but got no response. One of the guards snarled right in her face and she screamed again, kicking and struggling against his grip. The next time he opened his mouth it was to speak to their faction leader, "What shall we do with this one ma'am?" Then, after another putrid look in Beatrice's direction, "how about we repaint this room the colour of her blood?" She yelled louder this time, using all her strength to try to push the guards away but instead pushed herself further into the shelves of serum causing several rows of bottles to fall and shatter on the floor.

The resulting crash was almost so loud that she didn't hear Jeanine purr in response.  
"Perfect. Red is my favourite colour."

What? Jeanine's favourite colour is blue. Why would she lie? And why is she about to let these men kill her? Why won't she help her? Why isn't she helping her? Fear clouded her vision and Beatrice felt herself slipping into defeat. No. She doesn't need Jeanine to help her out of this, at least not the version of her that's stood in front of her now.

On the verge of what she assumed to be sure death, she rattled through every piece of advice Jeanine had given her about how to get out of tricky situations. It was mostly advice for simulations but it applies to real-life problems too, right? Unless?

_Oh, of course._

She mentally replayed everything that had happened then focused on the way Jeanine had looked so odd, like herself but if she'd been reconstruction from somebody's memories, and she came back to the same conclusion. Her favourite colour isn't red.

This isn't real.

No sooner had the thought entered her mind and she woke up again. This time Jeanine wasn't smiling, she was chuckling. It awoke a fuzzy feeling in her chest and she let out a breath. This was the real Jeanine, rolling her eyes mockingly but not quite managing to disguise the twinkle of amazement in them, the corners of her mouth rising slightly as she lets out an exasperated sigh, her usual reaction to Beatrice's actions and an expression that's so very 'her'. There's the Jeanine she knows. Relief coursed through her veins and she let herself be carried on an adrenaline high.

"That's what tipped you off? My favourite colour?" The question was like music to her ears.

Jeanine thought about all the time she'd spent teaching Beatrice to assess situations before she acted and about how if it seems improbable it almost certainly didn't happen. She shook her head. It was all pointless. Plenty of the other initiates worked it out when they calculated the very low probability of Jeanine calling the guards in from the direction of a room full of witnesses. To those she had smiled, she relished their high opinion of her planning skills. Some others had to wait until they were about to die from serum overdose to notice that they'd been injected into an area of their neck where there wasn't a prominent vein. To those she simply told them to do better next time but that they might enjoy a career in medicine in future. What could she say to Beatrice? There was no standardised feedback she could dole out for her solution. But Tris was never going to be like any other initiate was she?

"I mean obviously red would never be your favourite colour. It wouldn't suit you as well." Sparks flashed in Tris' eyes and Jeanine found herself subconsciously straightening her posture as she felt the familiar sensation of them skimming over the blue collared dress she was wearing. Tris' gaze dropped from her waist and lingered on her own knees as she sheepishly stammered, "About last night... I know I left..." She drifted off and Jeanine's heart lurched in her chest at the uncertainty she heard in her voice. Thoughts threatened to spill into words from her lips. Thoughts about how comfortably she'd slept and how disappointed she was to wake and about how she'd very much like to experience the former feeling again, but she pushed this newfound sense of longing to the back of her mind. In the weeks they'd been together, it was the first time Beatrice had stayed the night and she should have expected her to be uncomfortable.  
"You don't have to explain."  
She sucked in a slow breath, forcing it to clear her head and went to dismiss the rest of the class. After telling them all to come back later for their results, she headed back to the sim room where Beatrice was waiting, an expectant expression on her face. She didn't need to ask for Jeanine to understand what she wanted to know.

She told her that she had conducted the meeting as planned and that she had been granted executive control of Operations Rebirth and Extinguish, Beatrice giggled at the melodramatic names but Jeanine didn't let herself indulge and went on to explain the conditions she'd had to agree to. Her subordinates were Erudites through and through and an Erudite never misses an opportunity to maximize the resources at their disposal, even if those resources aren't technically even members of the faction yet.

Phase 2 of initiation was going to see the initiates used as intellectual power banks. They were to be relentlessly put through disaster scenarios and their responses collated, assessed and used to plan ways out if the faction failed either the takeover or the hunt. Jeanine hummed to herself as she wondered if there would be a simulation that dealt with betrayal by their own faction leader.

"Why do they need us to do that?"

"Because they need all their time to work out how exactly a faction of scientists is going to attack the Abnegation compound" She let herself smile then, it was amusing to think of an army of blue-clad lab hermits carrying out a military attack. Beatrice raised a questioning eyebrow at her pause and, reminding herself that Erudite's war-unsuitable nature would surely only add to the severity of their eventual workaround, she continued with a grim expression, "and then work out how on earth they're going to start rounding up the divergents." She cringed at the crassness of her language but blamed it on the morning's company. The meeting had been full of similarly disgusting phrases.

"So we're safe until they finalise their plans?" Beatrice asked, slowly unpacking the new information in her mind, and then added with a smirk "and in the meantime, I just need to not give them any good ideas in the sims?"

"Exactly."  
It was simple, they needed to work out how to stop them before they worked out how to start.

Unfortunately, it never took a group of Erudites long to solve a problem.


	16. The cuff-link incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: The cuff-lincident. 
> 
> Don't attack me okay I just love puns almost as much as I love writing Jeanine as super loyal and loving at heart and ya'll are about to know how much I love that.

Jeanine was in the lab when it happened. It was so quick. The stakes were raised faster than you could say "Oh shit."

James and another scientist were pleased about the progress they'd made on plans for the Abnegation attack, a loop that Jeanine was still fighting to be let into, she blamed Lexa and her assumptions about Tris for that, and turned their attention to how to hunt out divergents in Erudite. It seemed so childish to Jeanine, they didn't understand divergents and so they were scared of them. How very human. And how very not-Erudite to want to victimise them instead of study them. They required some to use as examples apparently, to somehow justify their terrible beliefs about the danger divergents posed. It was this that they were discussing when James handed the other his tablet.

His suit jacket was nice, quite expensive and made of very fine material. It was cornflower blue with a contrast stitching on the hems that matched perfectly with his pair of navy Erudite cufflinks. Only the cufflinks themselves weren't perfect. In a different situation, Jeanine might have openly bemoaned their cheap construction. With James' movement, the left one came undone and clattered to the floor, releasing the grip the sleeve had on his wrist and causing it to hike up his arm.

His colleague didn't take the tablet. He wasn't even looking at the screen. He was looking at the edge of a navy capital M that had just been revealed on James' forearm.  
"We'll use the tattoos"

Jeanine managed to withhold her gasp but quickly excused herself with a white lie about being late for tuition and set off storming through the building.

Beatrice was returning to sim practice after lunch. It had been less than a week since they began phase 2 and she was already growing tired of the nonstop simulations. She was alone but walking alongside crowds of fellow Erudites returning to work from their break, some walking in her direction and others towards her. She unconsciously tugged the neck of her jumper up to her chin as she passed them.

Turning the corner, she was presented with a sight that almost made her trip over her own feet. Jeanine. She'd hardly seen her since the end of phase 1 and it was painful to miss their lunchtime interactions. She was walking towards Beatrice, everyone giving her a wide birth so she looked to be surrounded by a halo of white light in the sea of blue uniforms between them. Her hair was perfectly settled on top of her shoulders and her stance was authoritative as she glided down the hall at serious speed. Beatrice tried to act natural but was so distracted that she forgot to swerve out of the way and they ended up face to face. Jeanine spotted her instantly but did nothing to stop their impending collision either, appearing to be in a sort of trance up until the last second.  
"Tris! Just the woman I was looking for!" her faction leader hissed just before they were about to bash into each other and then jumped back to open up a respectable distance between them once more. She looked around at her faction members and then nodded for Beatrice to follow her.

She was led back in the direction that she'd come and then into an empty computer lab. The door slammed behind them and Beatrice noticed her soulmate flinch at the noise. After the lights buzzed on, Jeanine pulled her to sit on one of the chairs, perching herself on the desk in front so that they were close enough to whisper. She looked unusually frantic and her voice was so fast when she spoke that it took Beatrice a while to unscramble the sounds into words.  
"We need to act now."  
Beatrice raised her eyebrows and Jeanine hurriedly explained the happening in the lab just before.  
"What you need to understand is that it's not in an Erudite's nature to be sentimental. With some false propaganda and a bit of pressure from me," she cocked her head to one side and inhaled sharply and Beatrice understood that was something she wouldn't be able to get out of doing, "most would be willing to show their tattoo. Especially if they're convinced that it's for the greater good. And that's on top of the ones who've already found their soulmate so display them freely anyway." She threw her hands from her lap in exasperation and raked them through her hair before setting them down to tap unknown rhythms on her knees again.

"But how will this help them find divergents? Why would the people with silver tattoos come forward if they know what it means?"

"Some don't. And... some would willingly give up their loved ones for the cause." She added the last bit in an even quieter whisper and Beatrice's eyes shot open wide.

"Erudites would do that?" She tried to imagine anyone in Abnegation willingly handing someone over that they loved. Sure, they never acted selfishly but there is a hierarchy within those they serve and loved ones definitely sit above everyone else. Are Erudites so heartless?  
"I can't believe you like it here Jeanine."

Jeanine rolled her eyes but she was right. At this moment, she didn't like it here. They were going to check her first. She knew they were. That's why she was so panicked. She couldn't think of any other logical reason for the utter terror that had gripped her body and walked her into this computer lab. She was worried that they'd capture Beatrice, and worried that she was currently their best method of doing so. The control she usually held over her emotions had vanished the moment she processed the likelihood of her faction members demanding to see her tattoo.

To carry out an operation like this they had to be sure they could trust their team and that included Jeanine. Even she wouldn't be above suspicion. Her rabbit-like heart rate was making her feel sick again, she was no good at dealing with situations that she couldn't control and she cursed herself for it.  
"Beatrice, there really is no time to waste."  
She saw Tris look away, regret clouding her chocolate-brown eyes.

"Jeanine- I really need to get to class." She could see lunch was over by the time on her soulmate's watch that was clinging to the wrist of her trembling right hand. She took it in hers and tried not to notice the seconds ticking by, making her later than she already was.  
"Can I come round afterwards?"  
Jeanine removed her hand and nodded though she didn't make eye contact as she cleared her throat and forced a small smile. She was fighting to regain her composure.

Beatrice hesitated at the door, she wanted to stay but she couldn't risk missing any more of the afternoon session. They don't take things like that very lightly at Erudite and her new tutor was a little less lax with her than Jeanine.

She ran to her classroom and snuck in as the class were being briefed, thankfully making it just in time for her tardiness to go unnoticed. Today, they were working on their disaster response.

The Erudite compound had been infiltrated and she was put in charge of allocating personnel after her superior was caught in the crossfire. The problem presented to her was how to save the people trapped on the higher floors of the tower. She employed a standard defensive formation that she'd seen in a textbook to prevent the intruders from accessing certain routes up and had just ordered an evacuation of floors 23-28 via alternate exit stairs when she was yanked from the augmented reality, a thin sweat covering her skin. Looking at the other initiates' faces she could tell that they were shaken by the scenario too. It was much more thinly veiled than their previous ones had been which could only mean someone was getting careless.

The sim was followed up by a lecture on astronomy which seemed random when they considered the sim's scenario but the initiates weren't in a position to question it. Beatrice fidgeted in her chair as her professor explained how to spot Ursa Minor in poor weather conditions and she wished it was Jeanine stood in front of her. If she tried hard, she could imagine it was. After a while, she found herself too focused on imagining Jeanine to listen to the information, she thought about how she might have her hair, what she'd be wearing.

Her mind drifted off and began to ponder their predicament. Jeanine was desperate, way more than she'd ever seen her before. If she was this worried then they were seriously in trouble. But what could they do to stop them using the tattoos?

Her professor moved on to discussing telescope mechanics and Beatrice followed suit and switched tact with her train of thought. Their immediate actions could be decided by their end goal, Jeanine always said the end is the best place to start when making a plan. So what's their end goal? She wanted these people prosecuted, that meant they needed to put them on trial. It would be hard to make a case against them without incriminating Jeanine so Beatrice would have to lead the legal proceedings whilst also keeping a close eye on the rest of the accused. They could easily conspire to pin it all on Jeanine and people might believe their combined word over hers, that meant they needed truth serum in the trials and that meant they needed to hold them at Candor.  
"Christ" She muttered under her breath, earning her a few confused glances from her classmates but she didn't notice. Getting Jack Kang to agree to a meeting would be hard enough, never mind persuading him to let her use their serum. It was usually reserved for Candor initiations and only occasionally used in court. How on earth was she going to convince him? She was snapped back to reality by the sound of chairs shuffling.

They were supposed to be getting into groups for a seminar, she hadn't heard what the task was but headed to her assigned table in hopes of finding out when she got there. As she got closer she could hear that they were already chatting about something. _"What? You're telling me you never ate a burger before you came to Erudite?" "No._ _My mum thinks they're gross. Plus I was Abnegation remember?"_  
Beatrice stopped dead, shoes screeching on the polished floor.

She didn't finish her approach to the group at that moment. Nor did she ever ask about the task, she was still oblivious to what it was when the seminar finished.

Muscle memory led her to the stairwell and up to Jeanine's penthouse and her lungs were seemingly immune to the strain as she took the stairs two at a time. She was so fast in fact that she arrived too early and was greeted only by a locked door and the potted tree that lived on the landing. She sat on the floor and leant up against the ceramic pot, tapping her feet on the ground as she waited.

Jeanine arrived soon after, almost dropping her things when she saw Beatrice and quickly sank to the floor to sit by her when she found she couldn't stop her ideas bursting out of her head. They stayed there and she knew Jeanine's skirt would be ruined but she couldn't think about moving until she'd finished explaining her plan.  
"And to pull it all off we're first going to need to speak to my parents."

It was so brilliant that Jeanine didn't know what to say. Her mouth just opened and closed like it was simply an air vent. She pulled Beatrice into a tight hug and planted a half-kiss half-grin on her lips before standing up and letting them both in so they could begin finalising details of the plan.


	17. Visiting the Priors

It was 5 am the following Saturday and Beatrice was stood on the steps by the main entrance to Erudite shivering in the crisp morning air. For a change, she was the one who was on time.

She looked over the still sleepy Chicago like she was the only person in the whole city who was awake. It was freezing. She shivered again and tugged her Erudite-blue pea coat further around her waist in an attempt to encourage it to keep her warm. The sun threatened to rise on the horizon and she remembered what it was like to see a sunrise from Abnegation, to see it bathe the cement roofs and cast rows of identical shadows between the rows of identical buildings, and thought about what her parents might be doing there now. They'd be asleep if all was well. She hadn't been able to send a note but knew her family wouldn't mind being woken up for such an important reason. Jeanine had wanted to go as early as possible so they could be relatively undetected and leaving this early was sure to achieve that.

That was if her partner ever showed up.

It was ten past when she heard the tell-tale clip clap of heels against marble.  
"Sorry! Sorry! I've no excuse." Jeanine panted as she approached.

"That's right you haven't!" The words caught in her throat as she spun around to mockingly chastise her soulmate. It was practically the middle of the night and Jeanine still looked like _that._

"Let me just catch my breath and we'll be on our way," she gasped and her lips soon turned a bright shade of red in the cold as she breathed an irregular rhythm of steam puffs into the freezing air. She waved a file folder out in front of her proudly. It matched with her blue and white outfit, a white folder with a navy blue clasp. It also, Beatrice hoped, contained all the information they needed for the day ahead.

She had expected Jeanine might put in some effort to blend in but realised her whole wardrobe must be designed to make her stand out. It was hard sometimes to remember that this woman she was growing to know was also a formidable leader with a public image to maintain. Her ivory skin looked almost snow-white against the royal blue wool coat that was tied tightly at her waist. It covered what looked like a new dress, Beatrice had certainly not seen it before. Was this a special occasion? She knew she was staring but moments like this were rare and she couldn't help her eyes lingering a little.

The rise and fall of Jeanine's chest returned to a more regular rhythm and she began to squirm under Beatrice's gaze. She stuttered an apology but was promptly shushed by Jeanine who insisted she was merely uncomfortable in her outfit and pointlessly adjusted the already perfect fit of her coat. Her hair held its usual wave at her shoulders, that one strand on the left side that always draped further back so perfectly in place it was like the frost on the ground had reached up to hold it there. Of course, she made sure to check with a leather glove covered hand before they set off on their journey.

It was strange to see the city so empty. The lack of colour-coordinated crowds did a lot to emphasise the still war-damaged structures that dotted their city. It was frightening to think about how close they were to another if they were unable to succeed. As the sun finally rose it cast a faint amber light on the treetops of the long dried up river and then onto the glass facades of the skyscrapers which reflected it back in a sort of greeting. Beatrice smiled her own hello, enjoying the warmth it injected back into her body. The only sound as they walked was Jeanine's shoes tapping different sounds as they moved from marble to pavement and then to the dirt ground where Abnegation stood.

After that night in Jeanine's apartment spent discussing the plan, they'd barely seen each other again. It had been an intense few hours allocating tasks and designing fail-safes until 2 am when they'd finally collapsed asleep. She'd left later that morning with a list of instructions from Jeanine and that was the last time they'd been alone. It was an unspoken agreement that today they would also tell her family about their relationship. Explaining the rest of the situation would only be harder if they didn't and Beatrice knew they'd never be anything but supportive, though that didn't stop her from being nervous. Just as they arrived on the outskirts of her old faction, she put a hand out in front of her to stop them both walking and turned back, taking a deep breath and she looked to the sky through her eyelashes.  
"Tris?" Jeanine probed, her face painted with concern and hands instinctively squeezing her shoulders. If Beatrice hadn't warmed up already, that was sure to do it. It dawned on her that Jeanine must be feeling the same anxiety, maybe more so.

Her parents had known Jeanine for years and the relationship hadn't been what you would call amicable. The pursuit of knowledge breeds greed and that is against the very core values of Abnegation, at least that's what she used to believe when she still spent her evenings listening to her father. She was asking this woman to walk into a house of some of her harshest critics and lay claim to their daughter's heart.  
"I'm fine." She smiled, and it was the truth. She might not buy into her father's ideas about Jeanine anymore but she hadn't had the selflessness knocked out of her yet. This was bigger than them.

They finished their journey to her old house and Beatrice caught Jeanine's hand just as she was about to knock on the front door.  
"No, they'll never hear us. We'll wake Caleb."

She led Jeanine around the house to where she knew her brother would be sleeping above and started throwing stones at his window. The fourth one had already left her hand when Caleb opened the window in an only half-awake daze. It narrowly avoided hitting him on the nose and Jeanine turned away to hide her giggle.  
"Beatrice?" His dark eyebrows knotted together as he fought to see through the sleep in his eyes.

"Hi bro. Can you wake up mum and dad and let us in please?" Beatrice coaxed Jeanine back around so her brother understood the urgency and he ran from the window and then re-emerged around the front of the house a few moments later, still looking as though he thought he was dreaming.

Jeanine tried to fight the urge to appear professional as she greeted him.  
"Caleb, it's lovely to meet you again."  
He made a wild-eyed look at his sister but she just shook her head and forced them all inside before they were spotted.  
"I-I'll get mum and dad."

Once he was gone, Jeanine chuckled.  
"I feel as though I've given him quite a shock."

"It's okay we can explain."

"You're ready to tell them?" Jeanine helped Beatrice out of her coat and let her touch linger over Tris' collarbone, she didn't need to ask what she was referring to.

Beatrice nodded.  
"Are you?"

They were interrupted by the arrival downstairs of Natalie Prior who began to run as she saw them.  
"Beatrice! It's great to see you!" She pulled her daughter into a brief hug before turning to Jeanine, more expertly schooling her surprised expression than her son.  
"Ms Matthews. What can we do for you? Has Beatrice done something wrong?" Her voice was curt but polite.

"Call me Jeanine, please. If I may suggest we sit?" Jeanine nodded a hello to Andrew and ushered everyone to sit in the Prior's living room, quickly reminding them that what they were about to discuss was strictly confidential. Giving everyone a second to find them all a place to sit on the sparse furniture, she squeezed Beatrice's hand and gave her a small nod. _I'm ready_.

Jeanine felt her take a deep breath before she started, "Mum, Dad, Caleb," she looked at each of them in turn, "I'd like you to meet my soulmate."

Caleb laughed, Natalie let out a small yelp and Andrew gasped, shaking his head in obvious disbelief. "You're sure?" Beatrice's mother probed after a few moments.

She laughed heartily and directed her reply to Jeanine. "I'd say I'm pretty sure." They exchanged a smile that lit up her eyes and felt the bewilderment in everyone else's as they watched.

Over the past days, she and Jeanine had decided that they ought to offer some concrete proof to her family and show them her tattoo. Beatrice had planned her outfit well. She removed her overshirt to reveal her off-the-shoulder top that showcased her words perfectly.  
"It's the first thing she said to me at the Choosing Ceremony." They nodded, remembering the conversation they were all present for and suddenly realising why she had acted strangely that day.

"I'll save you the embarrassment of seeing mine but I can confirm that it too is from our first conversation." Jeanine hummed and once again the two exchanged another secret smile whilst Beatrice's family sat in confusion.

"And this is what you've come to say?" Mrs Prior was again first to recover.

"Yes. And no. There are some things you need to know and some things we need your assistance with." Jeanine took the lead of the conversation again and tried to work out how to break so many important pieces of information about their daughter to them in such a short amount of time.

She started at the beginning. "My tattoo, it's written in silver." She went on to explain the situation in Erudite before the arrival of Tris and how things had progressed since. She was right about the tattoos, they had wanted to see hers yesterday but she managed to hold them off for now.

Tris took over to explain their plan from here on out. They were to hand over the collected evidence to the Prior's and they were to act in their capacity as senior members of Abnegation and present it to Jack Chang. Hopefully, after a meeting with Beatrice and Jeanine, he would agree to help and then it was over to Candor to hold the trials and get the relevant parties sentenced.

It seemed like a big fuss to Jeanine, involving two other factions like this. Beatrice had been sensing her growing unease and placed a hand on her knee, using her other to force Jeanine to meet her eyes. "This is bigger than you Jeanine. It is too risky to try and handle by yourself, especially now you're tangled up in it too. You need to accept help."

"And we're willing to provide that help." Natalie spoke with calm certainty and Jeanine did a double-take as she realised the voice wasn't Tris' any more. The resemblance was uncanny.

"What they're wanting to do is incite a war. They're monsters!"  
Everyone turned in the direction of the venomous words, shocked to see Caleb. "I- I mean you're right to be reacting so radically. So decidedly I mean..." He trailed off, obviously as surprised at his sudden passion as the rest of the room.

Jeanine smiled with a newfound respect for her soulmate's family.  
"Thank you all. We'd best get out of your way."

"You won't stay for breakfast?"

Jeanine checked her watch, it would be 6 by the time they got back to Erudite if they left now. She looked to Tris and was met with a shrug.  
"Sorry, no. We need to be getting back. Thank you again and best of luck."

The Priors were understanding and let them go, probably still reeling from the revelations that had just unfolded. They redressed in their winter clothes and began their journey back to Erudite, only remembering just in time to let go of each other's hands before they stepped out through the front door.


	18. The trials

Life was very different for the next few days. Candor was holding Beatrice in a sort of witness protection and Jeanine was in Erudite's cells, "just as a precaution" Jack Chang had assured a few days after he'd first agreed to house the case. They could all sense the factions' growing doubt about Jeanine's innocence so it made logical sense, she didn't fight it, but he was visibly upset as he told them of her impending incarceration, Candors don't have a particular aptitude for disguising their emotions. She appreciated his loyalty even if she did wish he'd stop being so sentimental.

Initiations had been paused in Erudite, with most of the senior staff in custody it had seemed strange to go on and phase 2 was all part of their scheme anyway. So, Beatrice was left with nothing at all to do whilst Candor processed the case. She couldn't see her family, she hadn't since they left the file with them on Saturday, and she couldn't see Jeanine.

She was barely sleeping, spending every waking hour reading, studying, anything to take her mind off it, and passing her nights with a mixture of nightmares and stargazing. The Candor house she was staying in was more than nice but she could barely process the luxuries she'd been afforded. Its city-facing garden was the only thing she genuinely appreciated. In the early hours of the morning, after she got bored tossing and turning in her bed, she would go out and look at the night sky. She'd gaze across the city and to the eye-shaped window of the Erudite building where she knew Jeanine would be. It was strange, they'd not really been in the habit of spending more than two hours or so together each day, even less in recent weeks, but suddenly having no contact at all had filled Beatrice with a deep desire to be in the other woman's presence all the time. There was a knawing feeling in her stomach that hadn't gone away and her heart was beginning to feel so heavy that she was sure she'd soon be unable to carry it around. She sat there each night willing herself to do something Dauntless like break into the jail but her trained Erudite sensibilities told her not to be reckless and she always returned regretfully to her bed just to lie awake until morning.

Finally, the day of the trials came around.

Jeanine was stood at the window of her cell as she had been for the last two days and nights. Maybe it was early in the morning, she didn't know for sure. Her watch was confiscated when she was locked up so she'd resorted to alternative methods of telling the time, watching the crowds of people ebb and flow below her in a predictable routine. The bright blue river of her own faction crashing and breaking against the stark black and white of Candor, the dull grey of Abnegation blended in with the paving slabs and the black of Dauntless with the shadows, only the occasional flash of red revealing their presence. Even more rare were the bright sunflowers of Amity, washed far from home by some special duty or another. She'd always thought of the faction system as an organism, each individual like a cell maintaining the life of their little experimental world, but from her elevated perspective, she'd grown to understand it more as a landscape; a harmonious balance between different elements. Through her imprisonment, she'd come to believe that she had been wrong in her lifelong view of their world. The factions don't work in isolation towards a common end goal, they work _together,_ in symbiosis. It was painful to reflect on her misguided past but if Andrew Prior of all people had forgiven her then she could too. Today was her first step. She watched the river enter the Erudite building. It was early morning, probably.

"Jeanine." It was a young Candor man, dressed in a crisp white shirt and black suit. He led her wordlessly into a car, black eyes watching her wearily for the whole duration of the journey to his faction. She was led through grand hall after grand hall and then corridors that seemed to be much longer than the total length of the building and eventually they emerged into a sort of holding area. White marble columns that had been there since before modern Chicago was founded were the main feature, matched only in their attention-commanding presence by the large mural covering the floor, it was justice scales, naturally. The short black bench she was directed to wait on was pitifully small in comparison and she felt that was probably intentional.

Her people clock was replaced by another, noise. The growing crowd on the opposite side of the door she was facing cemented what she already had guessed was happening. The louder the sound of people talking, the closer her trial was. She was swiftly joined by her fellow accused, all looking at her with disgust as they entered, if no-one on the other side of the doors knew of her betrayal then they certainly did, but she ignored their daggers and focused on those heavy black doors and the clamour behind.

Beatrice was waiting in a section of the auditorium reserved for the non-Candor public. Though she'd been sheltered from it, she knew there had been widespread panic within the council about the possible implications of the trial so senior faction members were invited to attend alongside the regular onlookers. Her parents were close by but they'd exchanged no more than a smile with Beatrice. Max was the only faction leader actually present, Johanna sent a representative like Marcus and of course, Jack and Jeanine were both otherwise involved.

The room itself was far more foreboding than anything she'd seen even in Erudite. It was black. And dark. Its irregular shape might have been an octagon but the sheer volume of people made it hard to see the walls. The small amount of illumination came from ceiling mounted light strips that glared so bright she couldn't look directly at them. An illuminated Candor symbol marked the entrance meaning the doors must be perpendicular to the wall, she cursed, she'd hoped to catch a glimpse of Jeanine before she was called. There was a long strip of floor that led to the witness box, a cruel central platform surrounded by mirrors that were also topped with unbearably intense lights. The mirrors didn't fully enclose the defendant, no, then the onlookers wouldn't be able to see in. When you were stood in there, there was nothing else to look at apart from the crowds and yourself, no respite from your current situation. That's where Jeanine would be.

Eventually. There were a lot of peripheral people to get through first. They all said the same thing, the plans had grown organically from Erudite's desire to find divergents and Jeanine's involvement was what had let them progress further, there were some mentions of some information or other and brief references to Dauntless that neither she nor Max seemed to understand, but it was always the same overarching story- Jeanine was the driving force. She was the one that wanted to seize full control of the council, at any cost. Jack Chang thanked them for their candour, the crowd echoed his words and then the next defendant was brought out, injected with serum, told of their accusations, questioned and then thanked for their misinformation on Jeanine. Beatrice grew more and more uncomfortable each time she was forced to thank these people, her palms were soon clammy and no amount of rubbing on her legs would dry them. She zoned out, she couldn't listen to this anymore.

Collective anticipation filled the hall as Jeanine clicked her way into the room. Her eyes were glazed over and focused on an empty spot on the far wall, risking searching for Beatrice's would only expose her to judgement from others'. Besides, she could deal with this herself, she knew exactly how the serum worked and she had nothing to hide. She tilted her head on command and made her way into the box as she felt the textbook effects of the truth serum begin to take hold.

Mr Chang repeated "May the truth set you free" for the ninth time. It failed to break into Beatrice's still fuzzy consciousness, his next two words were what dragged her back into sharp focus. "Jeanine Matthews," She snapped her head up but could only see a glimpse of Jeanine's side through the crowds and the mirrors. "You are accused of authorising a conspiracy to attack Abnegation and divergents. Is this true?"

Beatrice subtly weaved her way into a better view just in time to watch Jeanine's lips purse before she whispered, "Yes." There was a gasp and some mutters and someone had to call for order before they could continue.

"Why?"

"To collect evidence."

"Evidence?"

"Of the plans. It is all logged. They'd made all the arrangements before I sanctioned it. I simply asked to be granted access and in exchange let them continue but the plan was always to stop them." Even when drugged, she spoke with clear and calm elocution.

"You mean to say you deceived your faction?" This was something they'd only remembered to worry about when it was too late. Jeanine had still gone against Candor's values of honesty. They blamed duplicity for the last war, were they going to be able to accept that duplicity had saved them from another?

"For the sake of the greater good, yes." Everyone in the room seemed to process this for a long while before Jack resumed his questioning.

"You say for 'the greater good', the greater good of whom?"

"Of Chicago. Of Abnegation and of divergents. Tris has shown me that they are not as dangerous as we fear, just different."  
Beatrice cringed and her parents stiffened in her peripheral vision. She knew it was a difficult thing for them to get used to and something they'd have preferred to have some time alone with before it was public knowledge.

"Tris?"

"Beatrice Prior. My soulmate." Everyone who knew her name turned to her instantly and those who didn't soon followed. Few were malicious, most appreciated Jeanine for what she had done, but they were all shocked. Even Jack was taken aback.

"I see"

Jeanine was dismissed and the court took a break to decide how to proceed. Beatrice was immediately swamped by questions, disbelief, demands for her to be trailed even but thankfully Candor officials swept in to maintain the order.

Not long after, Jack Chang returned and announced that all of the other defendants were to get sentences of various lengths but Jeanine was to be acquitted of her charges. He applauded her efforts but spoke of how her methods were not to be replicated. She had certainly dropped in his standings but that was nothing compared to what they had achieved.

Jeanine never cared much for others' opinions anyway. She told him as much once he returned to the room she was being held in and he rolled his eyes but couldn't argue, he's the same after all.  
"I want to see Beatrice." She demanded, now she was a free woman once more. This moment marked the beginning of something. What, she wasn't quite sure. The full weight of her new responsibility to restore the trust in Erudite and re-educate people on divergents hadn't quite hit her, she was preoccupied with matters closer to her heart than even her faction. Tris wanted her relationship with Jeanine to be public knowledge, but what exactly did that mean for them now it was? Beatrice made her happy, destiny was right about that, but years of self-enforced emotional detachment left her at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed.

As ever, her professional role stole her attention from her personal life.  
"I'm afraid your faction has other plans for you." Jack nodded to two of her surviving faction members by the door, she had official duties to attend to. Reluctantly, she let herself be escorted back to Erudite after Jack had agreed to personally get a message to Beatrice that she would see her afterwards. They would have to discuss everything later.

An efficient fifteen minutes after leaving Candor, she was re-dressed and poised in front of the elaborate camera set up. In the car, she had drafted what she was going to say but there hadn't been time for proofreading so she was more nervous than usual.

A young member of her faction raised her blue-clad arm and held up three fingers in Jeanine's direction. She looked at her notes once more. Two fingers. She took a deep breath.  
One.  
Now.  
"People of Chicago, this is Jeanine Matthews. Today we prevented a tragedy, but we are not finished. The faction rivalries that threaten the future of our system cannot be tolerated. Some rogue members of my faction felt they knew better than our system which has sustained our peace for years and they were wrong. These individuals may have been stopped but we must all work together to ensure no-one is allowed to get close to disrupting the peace again." She paused and felt a shiver run down her spine as she thought about what would happen if their system broke down.

"On behalf of Erudite, I would like to thank Abnegation and Candor for their assistance in restoring our faction to its core purpose, the pursuit of knowledge. Divergents aren't to be feared. They may be different from ourselves but decades of service to our system is a credit to their loyalty and value to us. Divergents could be an asset to our future and we at Erudite would like to study their potential." Maybe it was the adrenaline rush or her temporary lack of a personal assistant to keep her in check that led her to note down this last sentence, it was unclear, she could assess its irrationality later though. Right now, she simply smirked and tried to picture Tris in front of her as she concluded, "I myself would like to study one particular divergent closely, very closely indeed."


	19. Epilogue

No sooner had the smirk graced her lips and the recording ended. Jeanine's eerie blue hologram self began repeating the speech across the city and her real self could finally take a break.

Beatrice jumped up from her place on the grass where she'd been waiting and ran into the Erudite building, fighting through the crowds swarming to watch the message on the plentiful screens. She knew where she'd be and this time she could take the lift all the way.

The door was ajar when she arrived and she pushed the fear that sparked out of her mind and went in without knocking. The living room was empty, as was the kitchen but the cold breeze that tickled her neck told her where Jeanine was. Increasing her speed with anticipation, she approached the sliding door that was slightly open to her right.

Jeanine was sat on the floor at the edge of the balcony, her coat draped over her shoulders and her knees pulled into her chest to keep warm. She was looking at the people below, all looking back at her through her hologram.

Beatrice slowly slid open the door a bit more so there was room to step out and went through, it was loud out here.  
 _"People of Chicago, this is Jeanine Matthews."  
_ "Jeanine?" She didn't hear her.  
She tried again, almost stood on top of her now.  
"Jeanine!"  
 _"-a tragedy but we are not finished."  
_ It was no use. Beatrice crouched down to the floor beside her and tentatively slid a hand over her shoulders, feeling her tense in shock at first but soon relaxing as she saw who it was. "Hi" She smiled.  
"Hi"

The speech continued and they couldn't really talk above the noise although Beatrice was desperate to say more. She supposed that she really wanted to thank her. For everything. For living in a cell for a few days, for agreeing to take this issue to court, for fighting the people that wanted to hurt her and for wanting her in the first place. Jeanine was living a perfect life before she stumbled into it, she was the smartest person in the city and extremely successful, and she had just given up the possibility of sole control of the council for her, however severe the circumstances, that was still a big deal. The fates had thrown them together but if anyone could resist their meddling, it was Jeanine Matthews. Yet she hadn't, and that in itself meant a lot to Beatrice.

She would find the words to tell her later, now they could celebrate their hard-won peace. She moved her legs from under her so that she could sit more comfortably and they stayed in the embrace for a moment. Jeanine's mind seemed to drift off after a while, her eyes lost focus and her grip on her legs loosened slightly. Beatrice knew she was apprehensive, the rally of practical reasons to keep their relationship private was surely only masking a bigger reason, she wasn't scared? Of the two, Jeanine had surprisingly been the most affectionate so far, she'd been flirtatious even, but that was all behind closed doors. Maybe now she had been forced to reveal that they were soulmates to the whole city, it was starting to affect her.

Hologram Jeanine interrupted her thoughts, _"I myself would like to study one particular divergent closely, very closely indeed."_ Beatrice's eyebrows shot to her hairline and she directed a disbelieving look to the woman under her arm. Had that really just been broadcast to the entire city? She hadn't run out of surprises yet then. Jeanine's cheeks were cherry-red but she was laughing, more freely than she'd seen her before. She said something but Beatrice's lip-reading skills weren't very good so all she could make out was "sorry... couldn't help... true... you?" That was enough to give her a general gist and she nodded, despite not totally understanding the question. Jeanine's smile broadened and Beatrice took that to mean she'd given the correct answer. She tugged her closer with her arm and leant down to rest her head on her shoulder. With their heads so close they could now hear each other better.  
"You shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I encourage you." Her tone was lighthearted but her words were true.

Jeanine untangled her arm and stroked Tris' hair as she replied, this new-found intimacy seeming totally natural to both of them. "Oh, but I do." The background noise suddenly faded and gave way to the sound of Beatrice's blood rushing past her ears. Her heart rate rose above safe levels in the next few seconds as Jeanine decided to demonstrate exactly what she was hinting at and used her new grip on her head to direct their lips together, and it sent Beatrice dizzy. They were both cold so the warmth of the contact made her gasp, Jeanine took the opportunity her slightly open mouth offered and placed another gentle kiss on her lower lip, then one on her nose and they both giggled and fell back into an embrace.

"Touche." Beatrice breathed directly onto her soulmate's neck after regaining her breath.

They weren't quite in the clear but Jeanine's influence wasn't to be underestimated, the factions would survive. As for them, they had a lifetime to navigate their relationship, they could rest for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed whatever this even was. x


End file.
